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A PAGE ON DUTY. 


























THE BOYS OF AMERICA 

UPON WHOSE 

LOYALTY, GENIUS, AND VALOR 
AS 

CITIZENS AND STATESMEN OF THE FUTURE 

THE REPUBLIC CONFIDENTLY RELIES 
FOR THE 

PRESERVATION OF ITS INSTITUTIONS AND FOR THE 
ADVANCEMENT OF NATIONAL HAPPINESS AND GLORY 

THIS VOLUME 

IS RESPECTFULLY^ INSCRIBED 
































PREFACE. 


This work does not profess to be complete, either as a trea¬ 
tise or as a sketch. The author has merely seized upon certain 
events conspicuous in an experience of four years, and used 
them to explain, in an easy and desultory manner, various 
phases of Congressional life. While the incidents and scenes 
thus employed have been arranged with some regard to narra¬ 
tive sequence, he has not hesitated, upon the slightest provo¬ 
cation, to break away from the chronicle and. invite attention 
to more distant happenings. 

He might easily have filled the volume with anecdotes of 
public men and descriptions of page-performances and pranks. 
His tendency in this direction has been subordinated to a 
higher aim. Such episodes as have been gathered into special 
chapters, or interspersed at random throughout the book, fur¬ 
bish a sufficient idea of the humorous goings-on at the Capitol. 
The purpose of his digressions is made obvious at one part or 
another of the work. He has gone out of his course to introduce 
peculiar specimens of legislative action, and to illustrate char- 
( acteristics of the respective Houses ; and he has, at times, 


If 


.ought to do more—to exhibit, by practical examples, the 




PREFACE. 


viii 

constitutional relations between the three departments of the 
General Government as distinct yet interdependent parts of a 
mighty and harmonious system, to emphasize commanding 
principles of civil liberty and public law, and, in general, to 
stimulate in the minds of American youth an active and patri¬ 
otic interest in the political history and destiny of their country.. 

It is not a book of reminiscences ; neither is it designed 
exclusively for the young. Its arrangement and style are ad¬ 
dressed to the sympathies of youthful students ; the infor¬ 
mation it contains may commend the work to older folks. 
Though not a profound and exhaustive dissertation, it may 
truthfully be claimed that it touches upon every interesting 
feature of Congressional power and procedure, and places in. 
the possession of American readers unfamiliar with legisla¬ 
tive affairs, a body of suggestions that may enable them, whevi 
on a pilgrimage to the Federal City, to view understanding^, 
and to criticize with discrimination and fairness, the idiosyn¬ 
crasies, as well as the weightier proceedings, of their national 
representatives. 

It is proper to state that the larger part of the contents 
of this volume appeared originally as a serial in St. Nicholas ; 
but, to render the narrative more coherent than was possible in 
its magazine career, material modifications and additions have ' 
been made. jr a. 


New York City, October, 1886. 


CONTENTS. 


The Republic, . 


CHAPTER I. 


CHAPTER II. 


The Federal Legislature, . 

CPIAPTER III. 

Assembling of Congress, 

CHAPTER IV. 


Diminutive Dignitaries, 

CHAPTER V. 

Procedure, ..... 

CHAPTER VI. 

Legislation, ..... 

I 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Federal Executive, 

CHAPTER VIII. 

^cret Sessions, .... 





X 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER IX. 


Extravaganza, . 


PAGE 

79 


CHAPTER X. 

Counting the Electoral Votes. . 


. 88 


Close of a Congress, . 


CHAPTER XI. 


. IOC) 


An Inauguration, 


CHAPTER XII. 


• io 9 


A Leaf of History, . 


CHAPTER XIII. 


. ip 


Arms and Insignia, . 


CHAPTER XIV. 


. 121 


Over the Recess, 


\n Unpopular Measure, 


Republican Simplicity, 


CHAPTER XV. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


CHAPTER XVII. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

The Federal Judiciary, 


127 


1 33 


. 141 



; 


CONTENTS. 


xi 


CHAPTER XIX. 


A Vacant Chair, 


PAGE 

. 156 


CHAPTER XX. 


Obstruction, . 


. 165 


CHAPTER XXI. 


Night-Session Informalities, 


174 


CHAPTER XXII. 


Into the Hurly-Burly, 


. 182 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


A Regal Affair, 


. 189 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


Foreign Relations, . 


197 


CHAPTER XXV. 


Lookers-on in Vienna, 


. 210 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


Chaos, . 


219 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

Much Ado About Nothing, . 


225 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 




CATIONS, 


235 


CONTENTS. 


Xll 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


An Impeachment Trial, 


PAGE 

. 244 


CHAPTER XXX. 


Diversions, 


252 


CHAPTER XXXI. , 


Odds and Ends, 


. 269 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


Antagonisms, . 


. 279 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Constitutional Limitations, 


290 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 


Reflections, . 


3°4 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


A Page on Duty, ...... Frontispiece. 

PAGE 

The Capitol of the United States at Washington (East Front), . i 
One of the Thorns of Senatorial Life, . . . . .12 

One of the Roses of Senatorial Life, . . . . . 17 

The Mace, ......... 21 

Isaac Bassett, Assistant Doorkeeper United States Senate, . 27 

Pages at Mischief, . . . . . . . .32 

Senatorial Chirography, . . . . . . .34 

Her Legal Adviser, . . . . . . . *39 

The Hall of Representatives in the Capitol at Washington, . 45 

The Senate-Chamber in the Capitol at Washington, . . -57 

The White House by Night, . . . . .67 

Treasury Clerks Leaving at the Close of the Day’s Work,. . 70 

The United States Post-Office Department, . . . *73 

The Treasury Department, . . . . . .77 

The Pages as Mock-Senators, . . . . . .84 

Counting the Electoral Votes on the Second Wednesday of Feb¬ 
ruary, 1873, . . . . . . . .96 

Washington on the Way to his Inauguration,. . . .118 

Our Flag in 1776 and 1886,. ...... 126 

An Unpretentious President, ...... 142 

The Supreme Court of the United States, .... 149 

A Corner in the Old Supreme Court Room, . . . .151 






xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Seal of the Supreme Court of the United States, . . . 154 

An Energetic Filibuster, . . . . . . . 17 1 

“Everyone Retreats before the Symbol of Authority,” . . 185 

The House of Representatives at Work, . . . >193 

In the Rotunda of the Capitol, . . . . . .211 

A Member of the “ Third House,” ..... 214 

A View Downward from the Gallery of the Rotunda, . .216 

The Principal Story of the Capitol, . . . . .217 

One of the Corners of the Hall of Representatives, . . 226 

“ And I have Endeavored one other Thing, Sir,” . . . 233 

A Midnight Frolic, ........ 238 

A Rotunda Sketch, ........ 252 

The Page’s Adventure, . . . . . . .258 

Tobogganing Extraordinary, ...... 263 

James I. Christie, Acting Assistant Doorkeeper United States 
Senate, ......... 265 

The Old Clock in the Corridor, near the Entrance to the Sen¬ 
ate, ........ . 284 

The Old Mirror in the Vice-President’s Room, . . . 286 

In the Senate Library, . . . . . . .291 

The Capitol, from Pennsylvania Avbnue (West Front), . . 306 












































































































































































/ 




I 


The Capitol of the United States at Washington. (East Front.) 















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE REPUBLIC. 

m 

“ The Senate will come to order!” cried the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent. “ The House will come to order ! ” shouted the Speaker. 
Down came the gavels, up went the mace, and the stars and 
stripes again waved proudly above the halls of national maj 
esty and power. Perhaps you do not catch the drift of mj 
remarks. Allow me to explain. 

When quite a small boy I was appointed a page to the 
Senate of the United States; and before proceeding further 
with this narrative, which I trust will furnish some instructio 
as well as entertainment to other small folk, it would be well 
at the outset, to make sure that we agree about a few genera 
principles of Government and Right. 

When the whole earth was open and there were but few 
men upon it, every person was free to roam or locate wherevei 
he pleased. But it is a familiar truth that mankind loves com¬ 
pany ; and this natural impulse, and the dangers and wants t( 
which they were exposed, led people to travel and settle i 
little groups, for mutual comfort, benefit, and protection. 
grouping to r ("origin of what is termed “ socie 




2 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Society, therefore, is the union of individuals for mutual secu¬ 
rity and welfare, based upon their wants and fears. 

To guard against conflict between the individuals, and to se¬ 
cure peace and prosperity to all, it was necessary that the earluj 
est society should have agreed upon certain rules defining the 
rights and duties of the people composing it. And, moreover, 
as mere rules would have been of no use unless observed, there 
should have been means to compel obedience to them when made, 
""he arrangement by which such rules, or laws, were made and 
.xforced was the origin of “ government.” Government, there¬ 
fore, is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human 
wants, and every government should possess three powers— 
^irst, the power to make laws (which is the supreme power of a 
government) ; second, the power to execute the laws ; and 
third, the power to administer justice, by the redress of griev¬ 
ances and the punishment of offenders, in accordance with the 
laws. These three powers are known respectively as the legis- 
itive, the executive, and the judicial, powers of government. 

Governments, then, arose at the beginning of society. The 
exact form of those early governments we need not pause to 
consider. The people had the right to make and enforce their 
>wn laws, or to select certain of their number to act for them, 
r to repose authority in one person, or chief. Undoubtedly 
\ government of a primitive society was rude ; the laws 
ve\e few, the mode of making and enforcing them was simple. 
3ut\as mankind increased, and the extent of the unoccupied 
soil (became less and less, the societies began to war; weak 
*roup\ were conquered and driven away from their lands ; 
others combined for defence against a common foe and became 
nerged\into one ; and in various ways they multiplied in num- 
•er or grew in size. And as they grew larger and stronger, 

/ interests arose, more laws became necessary, and govern- 
ts gradually developed in powe\ ociety ui 




THE REPUBLIC. 3 

one government constituted a “ nation ; ’ and a nation, with its 
government, constituted a “ state.” 

Still the work of conquest and desolation went on. Nations 
warred upon nations. A people would be defeated, its govern¬ 
ment and power as a state would be destroyed, and the con¬ 
quering hosts would set up their own government and laws 
over the subjugated country and make it a dependency or part 
of their dominion. And so the human race continued to bat¬ 
tle and to spread, old states to be demolished by victorious in¬ 
vaders, and new ones to be established—until now, after thou¬ 
sands of years, we find mankind covering the entire habitable 
globe, separated into many nations, some large, some small, 
with various forms of government, the territory and power of 
one state being confined within narrow bounds, the authority 
of another reaching from ocean to ocean and stretching away to 
dependencies in the islands of the sea and the remotest regions 
of the earth. 

Brave and noble nations have been vanquished, great and 
glorious governments have been overthrown, and majestic 
ruins still remain as monuments to perished grandeur. So, too, 
there are governments to-day which are but systems of in¬ 
justice and oppression ; whose powers are used for the profit 
and exaltation of a few, and under whose iron rule and vicious 
influence the liberties of the great body of the people have 
been ruthlessly crushed or are silently being suffocated. But 
whatever the misfortunes and thraldoms of the past, what¬ 
ever the sufferings and despotisms of the present, the principles 
of Right survive. The true purpose of government is the 
protection and benefit of society ; the powers of government 
are derived from, and rest upon the will of, society : the aim of 
every government ought to be to guard the lives and liberties 
of all the people under its authority, and promote their happi¬ 
ness and welfare, and any government which does not serve 


4 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


this purpose is a failure, and the people injured by its injustice 
or neglect have the right to sweep it entirely away, or to do with 
it as they please. 

Now, in the last century, our forefathers in this country 
were gathered into various societies, thirteen in number. 
Those societies were dependencies, or Colonies, of a state far 
away across the ocean, and subject to its government. In that 
government they were allowed no voice. The state did not 
guard their interests as it should have done : on the contrary, 
it made oppressive laws for the Colonies, and, when they re¬ 
monstrated and petitioned for redress, it answered them with 
severer laws and repeated injury. This tyranny at length be¬ 
came unendurable, and the Colonies resolved to separate from 
the far-away government. They drew up an address in which 
they told the world the causes which forced them to the sepa¬ 
ration. This address was the famous Declaration of Indepen¬ 
dence. In it, they set forth how that government had per¬ 
verted its powers for despotic purposes ; how the king, who 
was the chief of the state, had treated the Colonies as out of his 
protection, and waged war against them ; how he had plun¬ 
dered their seas, ravaged their coasts, burnt their towns, and 
destroyed the lives of their people—and done many other deeds 
totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. They there¬ 
fore declared themselves free and independent of that govern¬ 
ment, and, in doing this, they asserted, in the following words, 
the great principles which we have been considering : 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; * 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights ; 
that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That 
to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that whenever any 
Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of 


* That is, born to equal rights 


THE REPUBLIC . 


5 


the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, lay¬ 
ing its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, 
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

So they threw off that government, not only as a matter of 
right, but as a matter of duty to themselves and to their chil¬ 
dren, and provided new guards for their future security. The 
people of each society agreed upon a new government for 
themselves, and thus assumed among the nations of the earth 
the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and 
of Nature’s God entitled them. The thirteen societies there¬ 
upon ceased to be “ Colonies,” all dependent upon one foreign 
government, and became thirteen “ States,” each sovereign 
and independent, and equal in rank to the state of which it 
had previously formed a part. 

But the people of all the States were engaged in defending 
themselves against one great enemy—the state from which they 
had separated—and they had other common perils and interests. 
Under these circumstances, they entered into a league or union, 
and styled it “The United States of America.” This arrange¬ 
ment is set forth in a document known to history as the “ Arti¬ 
cles of Confederation.” It simply provided for a certain tribu¬ 
nal, or body of men, in which each State should have the right 
to be represented, and which should advise the States what 
ought to be done for their common defence and welfare. That 
was all. Each State had its own government, which was su¬ 
preme in authority over the people of that State, and no real 
power was given to this tribunal to carry out any laws or advice 
which it might think necessary to make or give. 

The great war at last ended, and the States were triumphant. 
But they knew that they were liable to be again attacked by 
a common enemy, and were also liable to get into disputes with 
one another. They still had common interests : yet, after a 
few years, they found that the arrangement or league which 


6 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


they had made was unable to properly secure those interests. 
The result was that they made another arrangement. They pro¬ 
vided that sufficient men should be appointed and given ample 
power not only to make, but to enforce all laws necessary for 
their general welfare. In other words, they agreed upon a 
Government whose authority should cover all the States, and 
whose laws should be binding upon all the people. 

Yet they made a very natural and proper condition. Each 
State had certain interests which did not affect the people of 
other States, and which could best be attended to by its own 
government. It was accordingly provided that the people of 
the States should retain their State governments, with the 
understanding, however, that the State governments should 
not interfere with matters that concerned the people of other 
States, and that the Government of the Union, on the other 
hand, should not interfere with the State governments in mat¬ 
ters not concerning the general and common interests of all the 
people, or about which conflicts were not liable to arise between 
the people of any two or more States. 

The people of the United States thus became a mighty 
Nation, or Republic, with a great Government endowed with 
general protective powers ; and the people of each State re¬ 
tained their local governments and the powers not delegated 
to the Government of the Union. 

This arrangement is the fundamental law of this country, 
and is known as the CONSTITUTION of the United States. It 
was agreed to by our forefathers nearly one hundred years ago, 
and begins in these words : 

We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect 
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the 
common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of 
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this CON¬ 
STITUTION for the United States of America. 


THE REPUBLIC. 


7 


Since that Constitution was adopted, the Republic has ex¬ 
tended its power and dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
Ocean, and consists now of thirty-eight States, eight organized 
Territories, the Indian Territory, the District of Columbia, and 
Alaska—containing in all about three million five hundred thou¬ 
sand square miles and sixty millions of inhabitants. But to-day, 
as then, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, sacred 
to every American ; and as you grow older and become more 
familiar with the history of humanity and civilization, you will 
learn to reverence and to love it, and be willing, as many have 
been in the past, to lose your lives, if necessary, in its de¬ 
fence. 

By the Constitution the Government of the Union (com¬ 
monly styled the “ Federal,” “ General,” “ National,” or 
“Central” Government, to distinguish it from the local 
governments of the States), is divided into three separate 
and distinct branches—the legislative, the executive, and the 
judicial, departments. The legislative department is that which 
makes the laws for the Republic, and is called the Congress ; 
and the Congress is composed of two bodies of men, one being 
known as the Senate, and the other as the House of Represent¬ 
atives. The people of each State of the Union send two men 
(called Senators) to the Senate, and a certain number of men 
(called Representatives) to the House of Representatives, the 
number of Representatives sent by the people of a State de¬ 
pending upon the population of the State. And the people 
of every organized Territory, in pursuance of a law made by 
Congress, send to the House one man, called a Delegate, who 
may take part in the discussions of that body, but is not per¬ 
mitted to vote in making laws. The residents of the District 
of Columbia, like the denizens of Alaska and the Indian Terri¬ 
tory, are not represented in either body. 

The executive department of the Government consists of the 


8 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


r President of the United States, who is also chosen by the peo¬ 
ple, and is sometimes styled the Chief Magistrate of the coun¬ 
try : and it is his duty, and the duty of his thousands of assist- 
1 ants, to see that the laws of the Republic are faithfully carried 
into effect. 

The judicial department of the Government consists of nu¬ 
merous courts, the principal one being the Supreme Court of 
the United States. The judges of these courts are appointed 
by the President, with the approval of the Senate, and it is 
their duty to interpret the laws of the Republic and administer 
justice in accordance with the provisions and intentions of 
those laws. 

The Republic represents the sovereignty of sixty millions of 
people. Its Government is the “ manifestation ” of the sover¬ 
eignty of the people. It was created by the people, in the ex¬ 
ercise of their own sovereign authority, based upon the laws of 
nature and necessity ; it was established for their benefit and 
welfare ; it is managed by the people, through agents chosen 
and paid by them ; and these three cardinal facts are embodied 
in the memorable declaration, that the Government of the 
United States of America is : 

“ A government of the people, by the people, and for the 
people.” 

The workings of that Government, in one of its branches, it 
is our purpose to consider ; and I have made this explanation 
that you may understand, before we go any further, the impor¬ 
tant principles which were voiced by the very preamble of the 
Constitution, and which speak in all our institutions and our 
laws ! 




CHAPTER II. 


THE FEDERAL LEGISLATURE. 

Congress, as the department of the Federal Government 
which makes the laws, is vested with the supreme power of the 
Republic. Yet, while the grandest tribunal on the American 
continent, if not on the globe, it is not the sole legislative 
authority in this country. The States have local legislatures, 
which are vested with exclusive power as to certain subjects ; 
Congress, on the other hand, has exclusive jurisdiction in regard 
to other affairs ; and then there is a third class of matters respect¬ 
ing which both State and National law-makers may legislate, 
with this qualification—that should the State laws conflict with 
the National, the former must give way to the latter. The Con¬ 
stitution expressly declares what Congress may do ; and, as it 
can do nothing not permitted by the Constitution, I refer you 
to that instrument for particulars as to its power. To raise 
money to defray the expenses of the General Government, to 
provide navies and armies useful in resenting insults or resist¬ 
ing danger at home or abroad, to regulate commerce with for¬ 
eign nations and among the States, to coin money, to establish 
post-offices and post-roads, to create courts for the enforcement 
of Federal statutes—in brief, to make all laws necessary for the 
protection and maintenance of the integrity and honor of the 
Union, and the welfare of the people as a Nation —these are 
within the powers of Congress. 

The varieties of business with which it has to deal reach 



io AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 

from the sublime to the ridiculous—from a declaration of war 
against a threatening foe, involving the sacrifice of priceless 
lives, to a law appropriating a few dollars out of the lreasury 
for the loss of a blanket in the Government service. Before 
examining its powers and procedure, let us consider the man¬ 
ner in which the members of Congress are elected and the way 
in which each body organizes for the proper performance of its 
duties. 

The Representatives are chosen directly by the people of 
the States, and no person can be a Representative “ who shall 
not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been 
seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, 
when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall 
be chosen.” Their total number is regulated by law of Con¬ 
gress, but they must be distributed among the States in propor¬ 
tion to population. The Constitution, however, provides that 
the ratio shall not exceed one Representative for every thirty 
thousand persons, but that each State shall have at least one 
Representative. In the First Congress, which assembled on 
March 4, 1789, the people of the thirteen original States 
were represented in the House by sixty-five members. This 
representation was fixed by the Constitution, until the taking 
of a census. The first census was that of 1790 ; and in 1792, 
Vermont and Kentucky having been meanwhile admitted 
into the Union, an Apportionment Act was passed which in¬ 
creased the number of Representatives to one hundred and five, 
or one for every thirty-three thousand persons. Since then, 
every ten years a census has been taken, the population of the 
country ascertained, and other apportionments have been made. 
The States, the people, and their Representatives have increased 
in number, until now, under the tenth and latest census (that 
of 1880) and the last apportionment, 49,371,340 inhabitants 
comprising the ‘‘representative population” of the country, 


THE FEDERAL LEGISLATURE . 


I 


scattered throughout thirty-eight States, are represented by 
three hundred and twenty-five members of the House—a ratio 
of one Representative to about every one hundred and fifty-two 
thousand inhabitants. New York, with a little over five mill¬ 
ion inhabitants, heads the list with thirty-four Representatives ; 
Pennsylvania, with over four million, has twenty-eight; and 
so it tapers toward a point where we find Colorado, Oregon, 
Delaware, and Nevada, with populations ranging in the order 
named from less than two hundred thousand to about sixty-two 
thousand, and with one Representative each.* 

For the election of its thirty-four Representatives, the Leg¬ 
islature of New York has, pursuant to law of Congress, di¬ 
vided the area of the State into thirty-four parts, each “ con¬ 
taining as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants.” 
These divisions are called Congressional Districts, and the vot¬ 
ers, or electors, of each district are entitled to choose one per¬ 
son to represent them in the House. A similar division is made 
by other States having populations which entitle them to two or 
more Representatives. Where a representation of only one is 
given, as in the case of Nevada, the whole State is practically 
a district. 

On a specified day, every alternate year, Congressional elec¬ 
tions are held in each State, and every person who, by the law 
of his State, is qualified as an elector “of the most numerous 
branch of the State legislature,” is entitled to vote. This is 
done by going to one of the polls, or voting-places, and deposit¬ 
ing in a box, in charge of election officers, a slip of paper bear¬ 
ing the name of the candidate whom he wishes for Representa- 

* The eight organized Territories and their solitary delegates are not embraced in 
these figures—the representative population being only the population of the States. 
The total population of the United States, including the eight Territories and the Dis¬ 
trict of Columbia (but not including Alaska, the Indian Territory, “wild Indians,” 
etc.), was at the last enumeration, 50,155,783. It is now estimated at 60,000,000. The 
Statements in the text as to population, are based upon the last Census Report. 


12 AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 

tive. These slips are termed “ ballots,” and the box into which 
they are dropped the “ballot-box.” The voting begins at a 
designated hour in the morning, and ceases at sunset or other 
stated time in the evening, when the polls are closed, the ballots 



One of the Thorns of Senatorial Life. 

A Dissatisfied Constituent : “ Well, Senator, how you could ’a’ talked about that measure the 
way you talked about it before election, an’ then ’a’ voted on that measure the way you did after 
election, is to me rather considerable of an enigmy ! ” 

are counted, and the man whose name appears on the greatest 
number of them cast in the Congressional District, is declared 
elected as the Representative in Congress of the people of that 
district. 


Klil 
























































THE FEDERAL LEGISLATURE. 


The terms of the Representatives begin at twelve o’ci 
noon, on the 4th of March of every’odd-numbered year (sucn 
as 1885 or 1887), and end at twelve o’clock, noon, on the 4th 
day of March of the second year following. This period of two 
years is termed a “ Congress,” and a Congress is divided into 
“ sessions.” There is one regular session every year, commenc¬ 
ing on the first Monday of December, thus making two regular 
sessions in a Congress, known as the “long session ” and the 
“short session”; and as the President of the United States 
“ may,” in the language of the Constitution, “ on extraordinary 
occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them,” there are 
frequently three sessions in a Congress. At the expiration of a 
Congress, the terms of all of the members of the House come to 
an end, and so the House of Representatives itself, as a body, 
remains out of existence until reorganized by the assembling of 
the members of (to use a popular expression) the “next” or 
“ new ” House. 

But it is not necessarily new, so far as faces are concerned ; 
for many of the members of the old or last House are gener¬ 
ally re-elected. The desire for re-election and the power of 
the people to send other men to the House, have a tendency 
to keep the law-makers on their good behavior. 

At the opening of the first session of every Congress, the 
newly elected Representatives assemble in their Hall in the 
Capitol, at Washington, and from their number immediately se¬ 
lect their presiding officer, or Speaker.* In addition to the 
formidable power which belongs to that high station, the 
Speaker retains his ordinary privileges as a Representative. A 
“ Speakership contest,” as the struggle between the rival can¬ 
didates is termed, is often a very exciting and always an inter¬ 
esting political event. Upon his election, he takes an oath 

* This title is borrowed from that given to the presiding officer of the House of Com- 
toons of Great Britain. 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


xiinistered by one of the members) by which he pledges 
xiimself to support the Constitution of the United States, and to 
faithfully discharge the duties of his office. Thereupon, having 
gone through the formality of thanking his associates for the 
honor conferred upon him, he administers to them a similar 
oath. The next step is for the Representatives to appoint their 
Clerk and the other officers necessary to assist them in their 
proceedings, and then to choose their own seats in the Hall of 
Representatives. And, having attended to all these matters— 
having selected a Speaker to preside over their deliberations 
and keep them quiet, having taken the oath of office, and hav¬ 
ing installed their corps of assistants into comfortable positions, 
and ensconced themselves in cane-seated chairs behind a be¬ 
wildering mass of oak desks—the members are full-fledged Con¬ 
gressmen, and the House of Representatives exists once more 
as a “ body,” and is readv to roll up its legislative sleeves and 
go to work. 

The Senators are elected in a different and much simpler 
manner. They are chosen by the legislatures of the respective 
States (the manner of election being designated by Congres¬ 
sional enactment), instead of directly by the votes of the people. 
Each State is entitled to two Senators, but no person can be a 
Senator, unless he is thirty years of age, of nine years’ citizen¬ 
ship, and an inhabitant of the State when elected. ( The num¬ 
ber of Senators is unalterable, except by the admission of new 
States. Multiply the number of States at any given time by 
two, and you have the number of Senators at that time. There 
is a subtle distinction between a Senator and a Representative, 
as shown in the distinct modes of election. The two Senators 
from New York, for instance, represent that State as a political 
unit or entity—in other words, in her sovereign capacity as a 
State. The thirty-four Representatives represent the people of 
New York as so many individuals in the entire Republic. You 


THE FEDERAL LEGISLATURE. 


15 


will thus see that in the Senate, one State is as potent as another 
*—they are all “peers,” or “equals” ; while in the House, the 
power of a State is substantially in proportion to the number of 
its inhabitants, j 

The Senators hold office for six years, and their elections 
arb so arranged that the terms of one-third expire with each 
Congress. It is possible for the House of Representatives to 
be composed entirely of new members, ignorant of the differ¬ 
ence between a “Call of the House” and a “motion to ad¬ 
journ.” Such a thing could not happen in regard to the Sen¬ 
ate, as only one-third of its membership can be changed at a 
time. This, then, forms another distinction between the two 
Houses. The Senate is a co 7 itinuous body. It never dies. 
It is, to all intents, immortal. The House, however, is short¬ 
lived. Its death is absolute. Its successor is, in the light of 
the Constitution, an altogether new body, possessing an en¬ 
tirely different soul, but endowed with the authority exercised 
by the “ late lamented ”—the House immediately preceding it. 

The Vice-President, who presides over the Senate, and 
who, together with the President, is elected by the people of 
the United States, takes no part in its debates. He can vote 
only in the event of a tie ; in that case he may determine the 
question by his “ casting-vote.” He, like all the Senators, 
“ qualifies ” for his office by taking the usual oath, and, with 
its officers, the Senate is thus equipped for the fray, j 

Yet one other feature is essential to put the two bodies into 
thorough working order, and without it little progress in legis¬ 
lation would be made. In order that every measure upon 
which the action of Congress is or may be desired shall be 
properly examined, the Senators and Representatives are di¬ 
vided into numerous cliques, or groups, styled “committees,” 
from the fact that to them certain matters are “ committed,” or 
referred, by the respective bodies to which they belong. The 


i 


16 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


committees of the House are appointed by the Speaker, one 
Congressman being sometimes a member of several committees. 
Those of the Senate are appointed by that body itself, and 
not by the Vice-President, although it is customary to allow the 
presiding officer to appoint conference and other temporary com¬ 
mittees. In view of the important duties performed by these 
little councils, this right of the Speaker to form them will give 
you an idea of the influence which he exerts in public affairs. 
There are at this time about fifty regular or “ standing” com¬ 
mittees of the House, the largest numbering sixteen members, 
including the chairman ; and about forty committees of the Sen¬ 
ate, the largest consisting of thirteen Senators and the smallest 
of three. There is thus a regular committee for nearly every 
class of legislative subjects likely to require the attention of 
either House ; and special, or select, committees are constantly 
being established. Most important measures undergo the rigid 
examination of the appropriate committees before being con¬ 
sidered by either branch of Congress in full session. When the 
members of a committee report against or in favor of a par¬ 
ticular matter, the House to which they belong is inclined to 
agree to what they recommend, since it knows that the com¬ 
mitteemen have specially studied the merits and demerits of the 
question. The committees meet in elegantly furnished, fres¬ 
coed rooms, built for their comfort and convenience, and pro¬ 
vided with special clerks to record their doings. Their meet¬ 
ings are sometimes open to the public, but generally secret ; 
and, as even a Congressman cannot be in two places at the 
same time, and as he should not absent himself from the ses¬ 
sions of his House without “ leave,” committee-service is irk¬ 
some as well as important. 

It is an error to suppose that the law-makers have nothing 
more to do than to attend the ordinary sessions of the Senate 
or House, and draw their pay. Some of them are models of 











































One of the Roses of Senatorial Life. 

He is invited to all receptions, and is a 4 distinguished guest 9 wherever he goes. 


































































































































THE FEDERAL LEGISLATURE. 


1 7 

industry—going to the Capitol early in the morning, holding 
committee-meetings for an hour or two, darting off to an ex¬ 
ecutive department for information, taking part in the debates 
of the respective Houses, writing letters to constituents, and 
transacting infinite odds and ends of business until dusk. And 
when they go home in the evening, they are not always allowed 
to rest. They are bothered by dissatisfied constituents ; they 
are besieged by strangers and friends, one wanting this done, 
another that, a third something else, until, wearied and ex¬ 
hausted, they sink into a restless sleep, and dream hideous 
visions of the coming day. 

Yet there is another side to the picture. They each receive 
$5,000 a year and perquisites,* to say nothing of the honor of 
writing “ M.C.” and “ U.S.S.” after their names; they are 
“distinguished guests” wherever they go; they are invited 
to all levees and receptions, to all festivals and amusements ; 
they are banqueted by the President and entertained by 
cabinet officers; and they are welcome to every species 
of domestic and foreign hospitality, from a charity-ball to a 
german at the legation, where they may move solemnly through 
the figures of the stately minuet, or dance to the livelier music 
of a cotillion and Virginia reel. Altogether, their careers are 
decidedly agreeable, and the average Congressman would glad¬ 
ly serve his country for life, and “ nominate his bones ” to fill 
the vacancy occasioned by his death. 

* In addition to their stated salary, they are entitled to travelling expenses, known 
as “ mileage,” because computed by the distance between their homes and the city of 
Washington ; they receive a certain allowance of newspapers and stationery free, as 
also copies of all governmental publications—from an elaborate medical history of sev¬ 
eral huge volumes to a Congressional Directory ; they get seeds from the Agricultural 
Department and flowers from the Botanical Gardens ; and they have various other 
privileges and distinctions. The Senators recently voted themselves private secretaries, 
much to the vexation of the members of the House, who would like to have such lux¬ 
uries aiso, but do not dare to take that liberty with the public funds. 

2 


CHAPTER III. 


ASSEMBLING OF CONGRESS. 

The law-makers, as we now understand, assemble at least 
once in every year in the City of Washington, which is the 
seat of the Federal Government, and hold their sessions in the 
huge white building, the beautiful Capitol of the United States. 
The Senators meet in a large room in the northern wing of the 
Capitol, and the members of the House of Representatives 
meet in a still larger room in the opposite wing; and in going 
direct from one room to the other, it is necessary to pass 
through the great rotunda of the building. This rotunda may 
be considered neutral space, separating the two legislative halls 
like the dividing line between two empires ; and for one of the 
bodies to infringe upon the privilege of the other to control its 
particular wing of the Capitol building would be as much an 
evidence of hostility as for the army of one nation to invade 
the domain of another. 

While each House of Congress is independent of the other, 
so far as the conduct of its own proceedings and the manage¬ 
ment of its own affairs are concerned, yet the Senate is usu¬ 
ally looked upon and spoken of by the people as the “ Upper 
House.” It has been called “ the grandest deliberative body 
the world has ever seen,” and the Senators are supposed to be 
like the Senators of Venice, whom Othello addressed as “most 
potent, grave, and reverend Seigneurs.” There is an iceberg 
dignity about the Senate that fills a spectator with awe, and 


ASSEMBLING OF CONGRESS. 


19 


that would almost freeze a smile before it could break into a 
laugh. ) 

Th^ Senators are very courteous in their remarks, and you 
would perhaps be able to hear a pin drop, at times, when a 
Senator is speaking ; whereas there is generally so much con¬ 
fusion in the House that I have often thought that were a 
thunderbolt to fall through the roof during the delivery of a 
speech it would hardly cause an interruption in the proceedings. 
One of the reasons for the greater noise in the House is the 
much larger number of Representatives as compared with the 
number of Senators ; and besides that, the Senators, being, as 
a rule, older men, have more natural gravity of demeanor. 

/ Now, the time of these Senators is presumed to be very 
valuable ; and as their thoughts ought not to be disturbed 
when they are engaged in making laws, only a certain number 
of persons are allowed to go upon the floor of the Senate when 
the Senators are at work ; and the other people who wish to 
hear them talk or to look at them must sit in the vast galleries 
which extend entirely around the room. The entrances lead¬ 
ing into the room (which goes by the name of the Senate- 
chamber) are guarded by door-keepers, and only the pertain 
select persons I have spoken of are permitted to pass. ) The 
Senators naturally require a great many errands and services to 
be done for them ; and, to render these services, fourteen boys,j 
from twelve to sixteen years of age, termed “ pages,” are ap¬ 
pointed—seven for the Democratic side, and seven for the 
Republican side. A Democrat is a man who thinks the coun¬ 
try ought to be governed in a particular way, and a Republican 
is one who thinks the Democrats are always wrong, and there¬ 
fore believes in governing the country in some other manner 
than the Democrats wish. That, in short, is what the distinc¬ 
tion amounts to. The Democrats belong to what is known 
as a “ political party,” and they always talk and vote the 



20 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


same way on any question of a political character—that is, any 
question which affects their power as a party or any of the 
principles of government in which they believe. The Repub¬ 
licans also belong to a party, and they talk and vote on these 
political questions just the opposite way from that in which the 
Democrats talk and vote. For this reason the Democrats and 
Republicans in the Senate are almost constantly quarrelling 
when they are in session, although when they are not in session 
they associate and talk and joke with one another as if they all 
belonged to the same party. 

The Senators sit at nice little mahogany desks, arranged in a 
semicircle and facing a pile of steps and mahogany tables where 
the clerks sit, and where, higher still, away up on top of the plat¬ 
form, sits the Vice-President of the United States (or whoever 
may act in his stead when he is absent), who is termed the “ pre¬ 
siding officer ” or “ President ” of the Senate, and it is his duty 
to keep the Senators in order, just like a big school-master, and 
not let more than one of them talk at once. The Senators on 
the right of the Vice-President (that is, toward the southwest) are 
mostly Democrats ; those on the other side (toward the south¬ 
east) are principally Republicans ; and occasionally they have a 
few Independents—men who talk and vote sometimes with the 
Democrats and sometimes with the Republicans, just as they 
wish—and they are apt to sit wherever they can get good seats.) 

With slight variation these remarks may be applied to the 
House of Representatives. The House-pages are double in 
number those of the Senate ; and the Democrats and Republi¬ 
cans and Independents there are necessarily more numerous 
than in the Senate—their respective numbers in both bodies of 
course fluctuating with every Congress, as the people through¬ 
out the country express their preferences at the election polls 
in their choice of Representatives, or through their State legis¬ 
latures in their choice of Senators. Personally there is no dif- 


ASSEMBLING OF CONGRESS. 


21 


ference between Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and 
members of other political parties. They are all men ; and, if 
they wrangle and quarrel, it is simply because they have differ¬ 
ent views upon public questions. The battle of words in the 
House is more exciting than it is in the Senate, chiefly (as be¬ 
fore observed in explaining the ex¬ 
cessive noise) because there are more 
men, to engage in it. 

The Speaker and clerks are located 
on an eminence behind imposing mar¬ 
ble tables. The Hall of the House is 
not so sombre as the Senate-chamber. 
Paintings adorn the walls and the na¬ 
tional flag graces the gallery above 
the Speaker’s chair. One item of 
furniture peculiar to the House is the 
mace. This is a sort of sceptre, sur¬ 
mounted by a silver eagle, which, 
guarded by the Sergeant-at-Arms, 
rests upon a marble stand to the right 
of the Speaker. It is the symbol of 
the power of the House, and rests up¬ 
on its stand only when the House is in session and the Speaker 
is in the chair. The Democratic side of the House is on the 
right of the Speaker (toward the northeast) and the Republican 
side is on his left (toward the northwest), but when one party 
has a majority the members are of course obliged to project 
themselves into the “ enemy’s camp,” as the seats on each side 
of the room wilTaccommodate only half of the whole number of 
Representatives, j At the time when my story begins the Repub¬ 
licans were in the majority in the Senate and in the House, 
and the President of the United States was also a Republican. 
Since then, things have changed. 







22 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Of course it was quite an honor to be appointed a page to 
so distinguished a body as the Senate of the United States, 
and as I was appointed from the State of New York, I consid¬ 
ered that I, as well as the two Senators from that State, had the 
honor of the State to protect I had heard so much about the 
awful solemnity and power of the Senate that I was at first afraid 
to touch any of these great law-makers, for fear I should be para¬ 
lyzed or sent to jail. But this feeling of dread soon wore away. 

The first day I went to the Senate was December 2, 1872, 
the beginning of the third session of the Forty-second Congress. 
People who wished to see the august body called to order be¬ 
gan to arrive as early as nine o’clock, and in about two hours the 
galleries were crowded and would hold no more. The ladies 
sat in the part of the gallery reserved for them on the Republi¬ 
can side of the room, and looked charming in their beautiful 
hats, and garments of every color. Over on the opposite, or 
Democratic side, sat the men who were unaccompanied by 
ladies. Then, directly over the Vice-President’s chair were 
the reporters for the newspapers—those industrious men who 
apparently never sleep, but who seem to be everywhere at 
once, and are always on hand whenever there is a fight or any¬ 
thing else of interest going on, ready to find out all about it 
(and more, too) and to telegraph it off, thousands of miles, to 
be printed in some great paper, the editor of which then 
preaches a sort of sermon about it, called an "editorial.” 
Thus the people of the country are kept informed of what is 
happening throughout the world, and if it were not for these 
reporters, many of our public men never would be heard of 
outside the towns in which they live. But, as I was about to 
say, the reporters’ gallery was filled with correspondents repre¬ 
senting all classes of journals, from the powerful, thundering 
dailies of New York, to the weekly publication of some little 
hamlet in the West. 



ASSEMBLING OF CONGRESS. 


23 


At a few minutes before twelve o’clock, Captain Bassett, 
the venerable Assistant Door-keeper of the Senate, told me to 
go to the Vice-President’s desk and put the gavel upon a cer¬ 
tain spot on the table. The gavel is a small mallet of ivory 
with which the presiding officer of the Senate thumps upon his 
desk to command silence or attention, precisely as a school¬ 
teacher taps his bell or raps with the ruler against his table. In 
the House of Representatives, whose members do not behave 
as well as those of the Senate, they have a mallet with a long 
handle to it that will make more noise, and sometimes it re¬ 
minded me of a blacksmith at his anvil to see the presiding of¬ 
ficer of the House pounding away for dear life, trying to make 
the Representatives be quiet. In fact, the Speaker’s gavel is 
known in the official parlance of that body as the “ hammer.” 

I placed the gavel near the edge of the desk—in order that 
it might be reached conveniently by the Vice-President without 
destroying the impressiveness desired—and hardly had I done 
so when, exactly at twelve o’clock, in walked two men through 
the door near me. They were Schuyler Colfax, the Vice- 
President of the United States, and Dr. Newman, the Chaplain 
of the Senate. The Vice-President advanced to the side of his 
desk, took up the gavel, and gave one loud rap. At once the 
buzzing in the galleries and on the floor ceased ; and, in per¬ 
fect silence, Dr. Newman ascended the steps to the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent’s chair, and, standing up as he would in a pulpit, delivered 
a short prayer. I do not remember all that he said, but he of¬ 
fered thanks to God for His blessings upon the nation since the 
adjournment of Congress the preceding summer, and prayed 
that the Senators might be blessed with wisdom and goodness, 
and guided of Heaven in their deliberations throughout the 
session then begun. 

The prayer was hardly finished when nearly all the Senators 
began to clap their hands in every part of the Chamber, making 


24 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


quite a racket. They had a habit of doing that immediately 
after the opening exercises, and, on one occasion, caused an 
old man in the gallery to exclaim, “Wall, I’ll be hanged ef I 
saw anything pertikerlerly fine about that prayer ! ” But they 
were not applauding the prayer—they were merely calling for 
pages. 

When the clapping commenced, the other pages began run¬ 
ning zigzag and in every direction, and at first I became con¬ 
fused and did not know what to do. At last I saw one Senator 
look at me and clap, but as I started to walk another page ran 
ahead of me. I was about the only new page, and more timid 
and modest than the other boys. They wished to “ show off,” 
and they ran as fast as they could every time ; and as I was 
a little fellow, with short legs, of course they distanced me. I 
tried about a dozen times to answer calls, but was beaten by 
the other boys. 

I think several of the Senators must have observed my em¬ 
barrassment, for after awhile Senator Conkling beckoned me 
with the forefinger of his right hand—that was the way he 
always called a page—and I moved toward him at a quick but 
respectful gait. The other pages, however, were all anxious to 
get the message, as it would cause people in the galleries to 
look at them, for Senator Conkling was one of the most con¬ 
spicuous men in the Senate, and people watched everything he 
did. He was then standing behind his desk holding a letter, 
and a number of boys rushed and put up their hands and 
grabbed at the letter, and almost fought for it. The Senator 
made a gesture for them to go away, and when I came up he 
reached over their heads and gave the letter to me, with in¬ 
structions as to what I should do with it. After that episode, I 
felt all right. 

As Dr. Newman came down from the Vice-President’s 
table, Vice-President Colfax mounted the steps and, in a very 


ASSEMBLING OF CONGRESS. 25 

solemn manner, said : “ The Senate will come to order ! ” and 
took his seat in the chair. . 

Then Mr. Gorham, the Secretary of the Senate called the., 
roll of Senators to see how many were present, after which 
Senator Conkling arose and offered a resolution, the object of 
which was to have the Vice-President appoint two Senators 
to act as a committee to join a similar committee of the House 
of Representatives, and to call upon the President of the United 
States and notify him that Congress was in session, and ready 
to hear anything he might have to say. 

Senator Anthony next submitted a resolution that the Sec- » 
retary of the Senate inform the Plouse of Representatives that 
a quorum of the Senate had assembled (that is, a sufficient 
number of Senators to transact business, which must be a 
majority of the entire Senate), and that it was ready to proceed 
to business; and also another resolution, “That the hour of 
daily meeting of the Senate be twelve o’clock, noon, until 
otherwise ordered.” Both these resolutions offered by Senator 
Anthony were adopted by the Senate, and, after brief proceed¬ 
ings about other matters, the resolution presented by Senator 
Conkling was also agreed to, and Senator Conkling and Sen¬ 
ator Thurman were appointed as a committee, Senator Conk¬ 
ling being the chairman, or head of the committee. 

At this point, as the Senate had nothing else to do, a recess 
was taken for one hour. Instantly the people in the gallery 
began to buzz again, and the Senators to talk among them¬ 
selves and tell jokes and laugh, and a certain Senator, who sat 
far over on the Democratic side, amused himself by writing let¬ 
ters and soaring them away up into the air, and even against the 
ceiling of the room, and watching the pages attempt to catch 
them as they sailed down toward the floor. I think he could 
sail a letter better than any other Senator. Certainly, this was 
no great accomplishment to boast about, but some of the Sen- 



2 6 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


ators sat through a whole session so quietly that they seemed 
never to do anything except to go to the Senate every day and 
sit still and vote. And I remember once a Senator came into 
the Chamber just as his name was reached by the Clerk who 
was calling the roll on some question. He looked around, and 
did not know what was going on or what he should do, and 
I pitied him and called out from behind him, “ Vote ‘ No ! ’ ” 
And he did ! Of course he thought it was some responsible 
Senator speaking to him. But I had been in the Senate sev¬ 
eral days before I had enough courage to pretend to advise a 
Senator. 

Upon the Vice-President’s calling the Senate to order after 
the recess, Mr. McPherson, the Clerk of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives, appeared at the bar of the Senate (and by the “ bar ’’ 
I mean the end of the centre aisle), and the fact that there was 
a message to the Senate from the House of Representatives 
having been announced by Captain Bassett, the Clerk stated 
that the House had assembled and was ready to proceed to 
business. These notifications from each Congressional body to 
the other, and from both to the President, are acts of courtesy 
that are always observed at the beginning and close of every 
session of Congress. 

After the lapse of a few minutes Senators Conkling and 
Thurman returned from the White House, whither they had 
gone to see the President, and Senator Conkling said that the 
committee appointed by the Senate had discharged its duty, 
and that the President had stated that he would communicate 
with the Senate at once in writing.* 

After the report of the committee, there was a pause in the 

* In olden times, during the early days of our Government it was usual for the 
President to come to the Senate-chamber in person, and, in the presence of the Sena¬ 
tors and Representatives, deliver whatever address he might desire to make. But this 
custom was abandoned when President Jefferson went into office, and communications 
from the President are nowadays always put in writing and delivered by a messenger. 






‘fwl ■ 

1 \* *,v.* • • • 
KK \v:.y 


ISAAC BASSETT 

Assistant Doorkeeper United States Senate 
















ASSEMBLING OF CONGRESS. 


27 


proceedings, during which the people resumed their conver¬ 
sations and whisperings. Very soon a gentleman entered the 
room through the door directly facing the Vice-President, 
carrying under his arm a package in a large white envelope 
fastened with a large red seal. As he entered every one be¬ 
came quiet again. Captain Bassett walked up the aisle in 
front of the Vice-President, and, when he reached the door, 
shook hands with the other gentleman, who proved to be Mr. 
Babcock, the private secretary to President Grant; and then 
this is what was said : 

Captain Bassett (bowing) : “ A message from the President 
of the United States.” 

Mr. Babcock (bowing): “ Mr. President.” 

The Vice-Preside7it (bowing) : “ Mr. Secretary.” 

Mr. Babcock: “I am directed by the President of the 
United States to deliver to the Senate a message in writing.” 

Thereupon the President’s secretary and the Vice-President 
exchanged bows again, and Mr. Babcock, givingthe package to 
Captain Bassett, left the Senate and went to the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives to deliver another copy of the message to that body. 

Captain Bassett took the envelope to the Vice-President, 
who opened it, and said that he would lay before the Senate a 
message from the President of the United States. Then the 
Secretary of the Senate began to read the message which the 
President had sent. It was a lengthy address, and the read¬ 
ing of it occupied an hour. It told how the country had pros¬ 
pered since the last session of Congress, and what laws ought 
tqj)e enacted in order to make it more prosperous in the future. 
When it had been read through, Senator Anthony moved that 
it be laid upon the table and be printed, which was agreed to. 
'to “lay upon the table” is a parliamentary expression, and 
signifies that the matter so treated isWt aside, or “shelved,” 
for the time being, or perhaps forever. 


28 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


By this time we all were tired out, after remaining silent and 
listening to the reading for so long, and shortly after Senator 
Edmunds arose and said : 

“ I move that the Senate do now adjourn.” Then every¬ 
body else began to move, and there was such a hubbub that 
all I could hear distinctly was the Vice-President saying: 

“ The 1 Ayes’ have it, and the Senate stands adjourned 
until to-morrow at twelve o’clock.” 

Then he gave another loud rap with his gavel, and the 
proceedings of the Senate for the first day of the session came 
to an end. 


CHAPTER IV. 


DIMINUTIVE DIGNITARIES. 

The second day of the session I began to feel at home, and 
in the course of a week considered myself qualified to do any¬ 
thing required. I had to become familiar with all the many 
rooms and nooks and corners of the Capitol, and learn exactly 
where to go when sent upon a message. It was necessary for 
me to acquaint myself with every Senator and officer of the 
Senate, and this of itself was quite an undertaking. There 
were Mr. Gorham, the Secretary; Major McDonald, the Chief 
Clerk ; Mr. Flagg, the Principal Legislative Clerk ; Mr. Symp- 
son, the responsible and still flourishing Enrolling Clerk; and 
a number of other gentlemen who attended to the clerical duties 
in connection with that body. In addition to the minutes or 
journals kept by the journal clerks of the respective Houses, 
the proceedings of each House are recorded by short-hand 
writers, the most eminent in their profession, everything said 
and done being actually reported and (after necessary revisions) 
printed. The publication containing this report was for many 
years the Congressional Globe; since March 4, 1873, it has been 
the Congressional Record; and in order to be accurate I shall oc¬ 
casionally quote from the pages of the Globe and Record in re¬ 
ferring to certain proceedings. These official reporters it was 
not only a necessity but an honor to know. Mr. Murphy, the 
chief of the Senate corps, from his long experience was re¬ 
garded as a walking cyclopaedia of Congressional information, 


30 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


and so also was Mr. Amzi Smith, of the Senate Document 
Room. These two veteran officers, I am glad to say, are still 
on duty, and the Senate is undoubtedly as glad of it as I am, 
for their services are absolutely indispensable. 

Then there was Mr. French, the genial Sergeant-at-Arms 
of the Senate, whose duty it was to execute the commands of 
the Senate in preserving order and punishing offenses, and he 
had quite a corps of assistants, among whom we pages counted 
ourselves not the least by any means. Captain Bassett, the 
Assistant Door-keeper, and Mr. Christie, the Acting Assistant 
Door-keeper, were his chief assistants, and these veteran officers 
had, and still have, the laborious honor, among other things, of 
keeping the pages in check. I shall therefore have occasion to 
mention their names quite often in my narrative. Captain 
Bassett and seven of the pages guarded the Vice-President on 
his left; Mr. French and Mr. Christie and the other seven pages 
guarded him on the right. 

More formidable in numbers were the House of Representa¬ 
tives and its attendants. I had to be about as well posted in 
regard to the members and officers of that body as of the Sen¬ 
ate itself, because the Senators were constantly writing notes 
to the Representatives, and sending us on other errands to the 
opposite wing of the Capitol. And, furthermore, there was a 
large army of foreign diplomats, public functionaries, and prom¬ 
inent citizens, who were constantly coming to the Capitol to 
visit or confer with Congressmen, and it was useful to know the 
names and countenances of as many of these as possible. It 
required keen vision and a good memory to keep track of so 
many faces, and it was some time before I could distinguish 
Representative Poland from Sir Edward Thornton, the British 
Minister. Their resemblance caused me embarrassment on 
several occasions in the delivery of messages; but finally I 
became aware of the great fact that Mr. Poland always wore 


DIMINUTIVE DIGNITARIES. 3 1 

a swallow-tailed coat with brass buttons, and my perplexity 
thereupon ceased. 

Seven of the pages, as I have said, were to wait upon one 
half of the Senators, while the other seven were to serve the 
other half. They were expected to sit on the lower steps on 
either side of the platform occupied by the Vice-President and 
clerks. Whenever a Senator wanted an errand done he would 
clap his hands or beckon with his finger, and it was the duty of 
one of the pages on that side of the Chamber to go to him and 
find out what he wished. After having performed the errand or 
attended to the wants of the Senator, the page was expected to 
return to his seat and wait until some other Senator called. As 
a matter of fact, though, the pages would generally be flying 
about in all directions regardless of these rules ; boys from the 
Democratic side would be running messages for the Republican 
side, and boys from the Republican side would be encroaching 
upon the privileges of their rivals on the Democratic side—for 
there was quite a spirit of rivalry between the two sides, and it 
was frequently shown in racing for messages and in other lively 
yet good-natured ways. Sometimes the Senators could not 
think of anything to send the pages for, and we would have an 
easy time ; and, instead of sitting, as we ought, in an erect and 
dignified position, we would kneel down upon the soft carpet 
and play marbles. I have often gone up on the Republican side 
to where the Vice-President sat, as on a throne, and played 
marbles with a page on the Democratic side, almost under the 
Vice-President’s chair. It would make some of the Senators 
angry to see us do this, especially Senator Anthony, who of late 
years was called the “ Father of the Senate,” a distinction given 
to the senior member in continuous service.* But most of the 

* In 1872 Senator Sumner was the “ Father of the Senate ” ; upon his death in 1874, 
Senator Anthony succeeded to the title; and upon Senator Anthony’s death in 1885, 
Senator Edmunds acquired it. In 1872 the “ Father of the House ” was Representa- 


32 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


Senators believed in letting us do whatever we pleased, so long 
as we kept still, while the young ladies in the gallery usually 
paid more attention to what we did than to what the law¬ 



makers were doing. Perhaps it was this that used to annoy 
Senator Anthony. 

tive Dawes ; upon the transfer of Mr. Dawes to the Senate in 1875, Representative Kel¬ 
ley succeeded to the distinction. 

























DIMINUTIVE DIGNITARIES . 


33 


The Senators would send us on every conceivable sort of 
errand, and I found my store of information rapidly increasing 
each day. Occasionally, however, I would be puzzled. Some 
of the Senators were rather reckless in their chirography, and 
frequently one of them would simply hand to me a letter or a 
scrap of paper with some writing on it, without saying anything 
at all, expecting me to understand what he wished. I would 
turn these notes upside down, side-wise, and corner-wise, and 
could hardly tell from the hieroglyphics whether the words were 
good old Anglo-Saxon or Hebrew. If a fly had fallen into an 
ink-bottle, and, after being extricated, had walked over the 
paper on which such scrawls were written, dragging the ink 
after it, the tracks on its line of march could have been almost 
as readily translated into the English language. But, though I 
was very young and not especially precocious, I studied these 
various eccentricities, or styles—I was about to say “ systems ” 
—of legislative handwriting with such ardor, that I finally be¬ 
came able to read them all. So well known did this accomplish¬ 
ment of mine become, that I was at times appealed to by per¬ 
sons about the Capitol to decipher writings of other people, and, 
strange as it may seem, Senators have actually asked me to read 
their own marks which they themselves have been unable to 
recognize after making. I teased a Senator about this one day, 
and told him I thought it was curious he could not read his own 
handwriting. He did not like to acknowledge this fact, and de¬ 
clared that he could. 

“ Well,” said I, picking up a letter which he had just written 
and which lay upon his desk, “ I’ll wager, sir, you can’t tell what 
word that is,” and I put my two hands upon the sheet of paper 
so as to cover all of the writing except that particular word. 

“ Oh,” he exclaimed, as if I were doing an unreasonable 
thing in covering up the other words, “ take your hands 
away ! ” 


3 


34 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


But then he could not make out the word,* even by the help of 
the others or the context of the letter, and laughingly admitted 
that he had forgotten what the scratches were intended for. At 
another time, I saw on a desk a piece of paper that had on it a 
comical likeness or image of a human skeleton in miniature—a 
profile view of the skull, the ribs, and the other bones, even to 
the foot. I wondered who the senatorial artist was, 
and in handling the paper I chanced to turn it an- f j 
other way. And what do you think it was ? It 
wasn’t meant for a skeleton, after all. It was noth- 
ing else than a very hasty autograph of Senator 
George F. Edmunds ! N. \j 

Senator Edmunds did not, perhaps, write more A 
badly than certain other Senators, but many officers 
besides myself were often embarrassed by his mys- 
terious penmanship. Once he offered a motion or l /) 
resolution, and sent it to the Clerk’s desk to be read. 

Major McDonald studied over it for quite a while, / 

and, as he seemed unable to make headway with it, J 

the Senator exclaimed : “ Here, give it to me ; I’ll 
read it! ” and going to the desk he received it from 7 

the Clerk. Standing in front of the desk, he stared \ 

at the paper for a few moments, turned it in various \ 

positions, and seemed likewise confused in regard to JA 

it. As a subdued titter came from his associates and 
from the galleries, he bravely began to read. Sud- Senatorial 
denly he stopped short. But Major McDonald, who Chir °g ra P h y* 
had been panting for revenge and watching the paper, at once 
interposed and said in a hoarse whisper : “ You have it upside 
down, Senator.” And so he had ! 

But even if the handwriting had been legible, the meaning 
of the inscriptions was peculiarly bewildering. For example, 
how in the name of common sense was an ordinary mortal (and 


DIMINUTIVE DIGNITARIES. 


especially a young mortal, fresh from the pages of Shakespeare 
and Scott) to know that the memorandum “ H. 432 ” meant 
that the Senator wanted “ House of Representatives Bill No. 
432 ? ” Yet that was an easy enigma compared with some 
others, and to solve these matters I was occasionally obliged to 
call in the friendly assistance of Mr. Amzi Smith, the genius of 
the Document Room : and what he could not make out, in the 
shape of senatorial puzzles, was, in my opinion, beyond all hu¬ 
man ken. 

One useful rule of conduct, I learned at the very beginning 
of my experience—I never betrayed my ignorance to a Senator. 
Had I done so, he might not have had sufficient confidence in 
my ability to entrust me with an important message, and might 
have called another page. If, therefore, a Senator, asked me 
to carry a despatch to the House of Representatives and hand 
it to a certain member, I would undertake the charge with per¬ 
fect self-possession, and if I did not know the member, I would 
manage to find him by inquiry after I got to the House. Some¬ 
times I would be sent for a certain book, and I would hardly 
know where to go for it—whether to the Senate Library, where 
are kept books only of a particular class, or to the Law Library, 
which contains works on purely legal subjects, or to the immense 
Congressional Library, including hundreds of thousands of 
volumes ; and sometimes I would have to try each of these 
libraries before I could get the book. But I always succeeded 
in doing it, and without waste of time on my part. Only once, 
during the whole term of four years that I was in the Senate, 
did a Senator ever feel provoked at the manner in which I exe¬ 
cuted any order given to me. It was a memorable day. A 
Senator was making a very important argument, the galleries 
were packed, and every one was listening intently to what he 
was saying. In the course of his speech he had occasion to 
refer to a certain book, and searching through the pile he had 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


upon his table, found that the one he needed was not there. 
I was standing at the end of the Secretary’s desk, and, looking 
straight at me, he called out: 

“ Bring me the third volume of the Trial of Queen Caro¬ 
line." 

I supposed that he would not be able to proceed with his 
speech without the book, and I felt very anxious to bring it to 
him as quickly as possible. I knew the book very well, having 
had occasion to get it before, and that it was in the Law 
Library on the floor below, underneath the room occupied by 
the Supreme Court. It was quite a distance, but I had my 
slippers on, and I almost flew through the marble corridors, 
going down the winding stairway in a manner that must have 
astonished people who saw me. Rushing into the room, gasp¬ 
ing for breath, I said to one of the librarians : 

“ Senator-wants the third volume of the Trial of Quee?i 

Caroline , please." 

It was a book that he could have found and given to me in 
a very few moments, but for some reason or other he did not 
seem inclined to rise out of the chair in which he was sitting. 
After waiting a short while and realizing that every moment’s 
delay detracted from my glory, I again appealed to him : 

“ Won’t you please get me the book ? The Senator is in the 
midst of a speech, and is waiting for it." But the librarian an¬ 
swered : “ Well, he can wait." And then he continued to sit 
there, perfectly unconcerned, for fully five minutes. Soon, in 
came a page, who shouted to me very excitedly : “ You’d bet¬ 
ter hurry up with that book ! " And the librarian merely 
smiled sardonically—“ but never a word spake he." 

Two or three minutes later another page entered, more ex¬ 
citedly than the first, and I really believe that, before the librarian 
condescended to get the book, nearly every page in the Senate 
was there to escort me back in disgrace to the Senate-chamber. 



DIMINUTIVE DIGNITARIES. 


37 


The errand would ordinarily have taken perhaps five minutes ; if 
the librarian had acted promptly, I believe I would have accom¬ 
plished it within three minutes ; as it was, the delay was at least 
fifteen minutes, and when I reached the Senate, I hardly had 
the courage to give the book to the Senator, who was still 
speaking. As I approached him with it, he gave a majestic 
wave of his hand, saying very sharply and in a tone that was 
heard by every one : “You may take it back. I don’t want it 
now.” This made the tears come to my eyes. I knew I had 
done the best I could ; yet all my good intentions and earnest 
effort went for naught. I suppose the spectators were unani¬ 
mously of the opinion that I was a very lazy and stupid boy. 
Since that occurrence, in my battle with worldly affairs, I have 
frequently heard of persons being unjustly suspected and ac¬ 
cused by people who knew nothing of the facts, but who based 
their judgment merely upon appearances, as in this case. But 
people who do not know the facts in any matter have hardly 
the right to form, much less to express, an unfavorable opinion 
of a fellow-man. That is the way I have always felt since I be¬ 
came old enough to look at things philosophically. 

And so, although I felt stung, I gritted my teeth and walked 
quietly to my place. I had made quite a reputation for being 
prompt, polite, and intelligent, and the Senator possibly feared 
he had hurt my feelings, when perhaps I had not merited such 
treatment, for after the Senate adjourned he asked me the cause 
of the delay. I stated that I had brought the book to him as 
soon as I could get it, but said nothing further, thinking that 
explanation sufficient. Some of the pages, however, who had 
clustered about to hear the Senator scold me, here interposed, 
and told how the librarian had idly sat in his chair, apparently 
out of sheer wickedness. What the Senator did I do not know, 
but I heard that he gave the librarian a little discourse that was 
chiefly remarkable on account of its forcible adjectives. If so, 


33 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


I presume the librarian regarded me as responsible for it; but 
I was not. 

It required considerable diplomacy to execute many of the 
missions committed to us without getting into difficulty. I have 
been sent on very important messages involving secrecy and 
tact, and have had to convey unpleasant information to un- 
gentlemanly beings. My duties threw me among people of all 
grades and conditions, from the President of the United States 
to the humblest person in the land ; but, amid all vicissitudes, 
I vigilantly endeavored to maintain the dignity of my office as 
a senatorial ambassador. 

People would come to the Senate and send in their cards to 
Senators who did not wish to see them. Many of these were 
“bores,” and we cannot blame the legislators for declining to 
be bothered. But, on the contrary, I have often seen poor 
men and women haunting the doors of the Senate day after 
day, beseeching just one moment’s interview, with an earnest¬ 
ness that always aroused my sympathy. 

Some of the Senators, not knowing these people or not 
wishing to be troubled at the time, would give various excuses 
for not coming out. On one occasion a very pleasant-looking 
lady, who evidently wished assistance in some matter of deep 
concern to her, asked me to hand her card to a Senator, whose 
name I shall not mention, and I did as she requested. The 
Senator looked at the card, and at once said : “ Tell the lady 
I am very busy, and must ask her to excuse me.” 

I accordingly gave the message to the lady. “But,” I 
added, “ if there is anything you desire to say to him, I shall 
be very glad to carry the message.” She then explained that 
she was a soldier’s widow and had what is known as a “ pen¬ 
sion claim ” against the Government, and that, as a law of Con¬ 
gress was necessary before the claim could be paid, she wished 
some Senator to introduce a “ bill ” (which is the first step to- 


DIMINUTIVE DIGNITARIES. 


39 


ward a “law,” as I shall hereafter explain), in order that her 
family might get the money and relieve their wants. She fur¬ 
ther said that she was not acquainted with any members of 





Her Legal Adviser. 

the Senate or House, but had presumed to apply to this Sena¬ 
tor, as he was from her State. I then told her that I did not 
think he would be likely to trouble himself much about the 
matter, but that, if she desired, I would speak to Senator Pratt, 

























40 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


who was Chairman of the Committee on Pensions of the Sem 
ate, and that as he was a very kind-hearted man I was sure he 
would assist her, although he was not one of the two Senators 
from her State. She said that she would be grateful if I would 
help her in any way, as she did not know what to do. I took 
her papers and went to Senator Pratt, told him all about the 
case, and asked him if he would not do what he could. He 
said, “ Where is the lady ? ” I told him she was waiting in 
the reception-room, and he replied, “ Well, take me to her,” 
and I did so. The result was that the Senator introduced the 
bill for her, it passed through both Houses of Congress, was 
approved by the President, became a law, and she got her 
money within a few months. 

It was thus very often in our power to aid strangers and 
others. I have many a time spoken with Senators who refused 
to see deserving people seeking interviews, telling them that 
the applicants were old or delicate or some other facts to excite 
their interest, and the Senators as often would change their 
minds and go out and see the persons. 

But while the pages could be considerate and obliging, they 
could also be otherwise, if their dignity were involved. We 
could be as “ aggravating ” as any boys can be, when we 
wished, and some folks must have thought us little demons. 
Although we were employed to wait upon the Senators, “ out¬ 
siders ” would encroach upon our good-nature and ask us to do 
things which they could do as well themselves, and when, per¬ 
haps, we had our hands full of other work. We always refused 
to attend to these matters, if they were put in the shape of a 
demand instead of a request. There were several newspaper 
reporters in the gallery over the Vice-President’s chair who fre¬ 
quently ignored our rights. A reporter would wish to ask a 
question of a Senator, and, rather than come down the stairs 
and send in his card, would drop a note from the gallery, ex- 


DIMINUTIVE DIGNITARIES. 


41 


pecting one of us to pick it up and hand it to the Senator to 
whom it was addressed. This was a rather officious request 
sometimes, when we were tired and worn out from excessive 
running, and would hardly feel like going up to where the 
reporter was, in the roundabout way in which we should have 
had to go, to deliver him the information called for, and then 
come all the way back. But, whether we were tired or full 
of activity, we did not like the matter-of-course manner in 
which some of the reporters demanded our services ; and we 
would often let the note remain where it had fallen on the 
carpet. Sometimes, out of pugnacity, we would surround the 
paper and walk around it, gazing at it apparently with great 
curiosity, but evincing no inclination to touch it. Finally, 
when the reporter would lean over the edge of the gallery, 
and, in a very obsequious manner, would bow his head and 
smile and go through a lot of gymnastics to indicate to every¬ 
body else in the galleries that the “squib” would not “go 
off,” and that he would be exceedingly obliged if one of our 
excellencies would graciously convey the paper to its desired 
destination, one of us would pick it up ; but not until then. 

In addition to the duties pertaining to the position of page, 
I soon became competent to assist officers of the Senate in 
various ways : at one time, relieving a door-keeper at his post; 
at another, acting as a scribe, or private secretary, to a Senator. 
But the honor or privilege'that I particularly enjoyed was that 
of hauling up the flag, j Every day, when the Senate met, a 
flag would be hoisted tolthe top of the staff on the roof of the 
Senate, to notify people "of that fact, and it would so remain 
until the Senate adjourned for the day, when it would be 
lowered. The same thing was done as regards the sessions of 
the House. 

The man who had charge of the Senate flag, not caring es¬ 
pecially about the trouble of ascending the tedious stairs leading 


42 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


to the roof, finally permitted me to act for him. Accordingly, 
every day, a little before the time for the meeting of the Sen¬ 
ate, I would get the keys and go aloft, and, having arranged the 
flag and halyards, would wait there with the rope in my hand, 
ready to act. When the steam-whistles all over the city began 
to blow, announcing twelve o’clock, I would haul away until 
the flag reached the top of the pole, and, after fastening the 
rope near the bottom, would descend to the Senate-chamber, 
with a profound conviction that I was, after all, a very impor¬ 
tant personage. Sometimes I would have so many other mat¬ 
ters to attend to that I would forget to hoist the flag for 
several hours after the meeting of the Senate ; and then some¬ 
times I would go home after the Senate adjourned, forgetting 
to lower it, and it would remain there during the entire night. 
But no great harm resulted from these omissions, except that 
occasionally Senators, not observing the flag, would stay at 
home when they should have been at the Senate, or, seeing it 
waving, would trudge to the Capitol only to find that the 
Senate had adjourned and that they could return whence they 
came. 

That flag, although to me an object of devotion, gave me 
more or less annoyance. Very often, at such a height, the 
wind blew with considerable violence, and, in a stiff breeze, 
after hauling the flag to the top, I would attempt to fasten the 
halyards, and not be aware, until some one mentioned the fact 
long afterward, that I had left the flag at half-mast. This was 
caused by the rope slipping while I was fastening it at the 
bottom. Of course, the flag at half-mast being an indication 
that a Senator or some other great functionary of the Govern¬ 
ment was dead, this state of affairs was somewhat embarrassing. 
But I capped the climax one day. The Senate had been in 
session for several hours, when in came a Senator who had just 
arrived at the Capitol, and inquired of a group of fellow-law- 


DIMINUTIVE DIGNITARIES. 


makers what the Senate was in distress about. He narrated 
something that caused them to smile ; and after they had en¬ 
joyed themselves for a while in this way, one of them sent for 
Captain Bassett, and spoke to him. The Captain nervously 
returned and told me to go up to the roof and fix the flag. I 
could not imagine what could be the matter with it, but when 
I stepped on the roof I at once beheld the cause of the mirth. 
In raising the flag I had hauled away on the wrong rope, and 
there was the grand ensign of our Republic floating serenely 
in the breeze—upside down ! 

Of course, during the few days that it took me to become 
familiar with my duties, the Senate continued its sessions. 
That is, it did not suspend them on my account; but noth¬ 
ing extraordinary happened until December 20th, when both 
Houses of Congress adjourned to January 6th. As, under 
the provisions of the Constitution, neither body can adjourn 
for a longer period than three days without the consent of the 
other, it became necessary for both Houses to agree to this, 
which was done by means of a concurrent resolution. Not 
much business is transacted by Congress during the month of 
December. The law-makers hardly arrive in Washington and 
unpack their trunks before they begin to think about Christ¬ 
mas and New Year’s, and wish to depart for their homes to 
enjoy the accustomed festivities about their own fire-sides. 
Upon re-assembling in January, both bodies applied them¬ 
selves to work in good earnest, and my labors increased in 
proportion. 

But while attending to the duties demanded of me, I was 
very observant of the manner in which the law-makers attended 
to their own. Having become connected with the Senate and 
introduced to it, as I have described, and feeling, with the 
natural conceit of an American boy, that I thereby became a 
part of the legislative department of the Government, I con- 


.-+ AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 

sidered that I ought to inform myself thoroughly about the 
powers of Congress, and therefore resolved to watch closely the 
proceedings of each body in the great business of legislation. 
The result of some of my observations I shall endeavor, briefly, 
to state. 




























































































































































































CHAPTER V. 


PROCEDURE. 


The scope and form of the various requests, proceedings, 
or instruments by which Congressional action is asked or taken, 
are carefully defined. A petition , for instance, prays something 
—a remonstrance has no prayer; and it is necessary that every 
petition addressed to the Senate shall be signed by the peti¬ 
tioner or petitioners, and a general statement of its object must 
be given by the Senator presenting it before it will be received. 
In the House, petitions are filed by the Representatives in 
wholesale quantities with the Clerk, instead of being orally in¬ 
troduced in open session, after the fashion of the Senate. 

Motions are generally oral, although they must be reduced 
to writing if required by a member, and relate to current pro¬ 
ceedings, such as adjournment, recess, or disposition of busi¬ 
ness before the body. 

When either House issues a command to its officers or in 
regard to its own affairs, it is by an order , the phrase employed 
being, “ Ordered , That,” etc. 

But “ facts, principles, and their own opinions and purposes 
are expressed in the form of resolutions ,” the phrase being, 
“ Resolved, That,” etc. A simple resolution extends only to 
the affairs of the body adopting it. 

There are some things that can be accomplished only by 
the action of both Houses, and, in minor matters of that de¬ 
scription, the form employed is a concurrent resolution , the 



46 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


language being : u Resolved by the House of Representatives (the 
Senate concurring'), That,” etc., or, “ Resolved by the Senate 
(the House of Representatives concurring') depending upon 
which body originates the resolution. A concurrent resolution 
is necessary, for example, to effect an adjournment of either 
House fora longer period than three days, as in the case of ad¬ 
journment over the Christmas holidays. While the Constitution 
declares that there shall be at least one session every year, no 
limitation is fixed upon the length of a session when so begun, 
except that which arises out of the provision requiring an an¬ 
nual session and the other provision fixing the duration of a 
Congress. It is evident that a session could not run beyond 
twelve o’clock on March 4th of a second year, although the first 
session of a new Congress might immediately follow; and 
were one session to continue to the first Monday of December, 
it would necessarily come to an end, although another session 
would, under the Constitution and present law, commence on the 
same day. Apart from these restrictions, the two Houses have 
the right to determine when a session shall terminate, and such 
time is fixed by a concurrent resolution. But in case of disagree¬ 
ment between them with respect to the time of adjournment, the 
President may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper. 

Joint resolutions are the highest forms of resolutions, the 
resolving clause being : “ Resolved by the Senate and House of 
Represe?itatives of the United States of America in Congress 
assembled .” In this form, proposed amendments to the Con¬ 
stitution are submitted to the States for ratification; thanks or 
other tributes of respect are tendered to foreign powers, or to 
distinguished persons—those of our own country included ; and 
so on. There is a nice distinction between a joint resolution 
and a bill, but the law-makers sometimes lose sight of it, for 
we find them using joint resolutions to appropriate money and 
for other purposes which bills are intended to serve. 


PROCEDURE. 


47 


Legislation, strictly speaking, is done by means of bills , 
which begin : “ Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre¬ 
sentatives of the United States of America in Congress assem¬ 
bled." This is known as the “ enacting clause,” which gives 
vitality to the provisions which follow; without it, a bill would 
be worthless. Frequently, after a stubborn fight has been 
made in either House over the body of a bill, the opposition 
move to “strikeout the enacting clause,” and the success of 
that motion would seal the fate of the measure. 

There are two classes of bills—public bills and private bills. 
It is by public bills that measures designed for enforcement 
throughout the country and involving the legal rights of the 
people, are enacted. When enacted, they become laws , and 
are styled “ Public Acts of Congress,” “Statutes-at-large,” or, 
more generally, “ Public Laws.” When a public law is enact¬ 
ed, every person in the United States is presumed to know of 
it. The rule is, “ Ignorance of the law excuses no man.” 
This rule seems rather harsh, perhaps, when we reflect that it 
is difficult to understand what some acts of Congress really 
mean; but without it some folks would be constantly breaking 
laws and then shielding themselves behind the plea of igno¬ 
rance to escape punishment. It has been suggested that no 
act should go into effect until after the lapse of a reasonable 
period of time, to afford the people an opportunity to post 
themselves properly. Yet this is not the case. Some acts do 
provide that they shall not begin to operate as law until a 
specified time named in them, but most of them take effect 
immediately upon passage and approval by the President. In 
this connection, however, I should note that Congress cannot 
make a law that will work to the disadvantage of any citizen 
for any deed done by him before the enactment of the law. 
Such laws would be retroactive, or ex post facto * laws ; and 

* “ Done after another thing," 


43 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Congress is expressly prohibited by the Constitution from mak¬ 
ing them. The justice of this provision is manifest. 

Private bills are those which confer benefit upon particular 
individuals, as distinguished from bills affecting the interests of 
the general public. When passed they are styled “ Private 
Acts of Congress,” “ Private Statutes,” or “ Private Laws,” 
and, being private, and for the advantage of some individual or 
class, other people are not bound to take notice of them. 

The title which a bill or resolution bears is designed to 
point out its general purpose ; and to more clearly indicate the 
intent of Congress, a preamble is sometimes used. 

A treaty is by some writers classed as a legislative act, and 
is as much a law of the land as an Act of Congress, although in 
the making of a treaty the House of Representatives has no 
power. To carryout the stipulations of treaties, however, Acts 
of Congress are often necessary. 

Petitions, resolutions, bills, or other matters addressed to the 
attention or requiring the action of both branches of Congress, 
may be presented or introduced in either body. There is but 
one exception to this general statement. The Constitution 
prescribes that “ all bills for raising revenue shall originate in 
the House of Representatives.” 

In the consideration of important bills, such as those relating 
to the revenue, the Lower House organizes itself into a “ Com¬ 
mittee of the Whole ”—or, to be more exact, into a “ Committee 
of the Whole House on the state of the Union,” in consider¬ 
ing public bills and business, and " Committee of the Whole 
House” in considering private bills. When the House goes 
into Committee of the Whole, the Speaker leaves the Chair and 
designates a member to take it, and the mace is taken down. 
The Representatives thereupon constitute a “ Committee,” in¬ 
stead of the House, and they address their presiding officer as 
“ Mr. Chairman,” instead of “ Mr. Speaker.” After transact- 


PROCEDURE. 


49 


ing its work, the Committee “ rises,” the Speaker resumes the 
chair, the mace is restored to its pedestal, and the House re¬ 
ceives the report of the Chairman just as if it were the report of 
any other committee. In the Senate this formality of going into 
Committee of the Whole applies to all legislative measures, but 
it is merely “ assumed,” the presiding officer being always “ Mr. 
President,” and the journal merely stating that the Senate as in 
Committee of the Whole did so and so. But any action taken 
in “ Committee of the Whole,” by either of the Congressional 
bodies, must be afterward agreed to by the “ House ” or “ Sen¬ 
ate,” in order to be of effect. 

Subject to certain exceptions a majority vote of each House 
is sufficient to pass any measure before it; but every order, 
resolution, bill, or other vote, to which the concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except 
on a question of adjournment) must be presented to the Pre¬ 
sident of the United States for his approval and signature. If 
the President disapproves of any measure so passed by Con¬ 
gress, he returns it, with his objections, or “veto,”* to the 
House in which it originated; and to become a law, in the face 
of his objections, it must be passed again by each House and 
by a two-thirds vote instead of by a majority. This veto-power 
of the President is termed his “ negative,” and is equivalent to 
one-sixth of the legislative power of Congress—that is, the 
difference between two-thirds and a majority. 

The proceedings of Congress are methodical; otherwise, 
with so many law-makers, it would be almost impossible to 
accomplish anything at all toward advancing the interests 
of the nation. To restrain their proceedings from an excess 
of talk, as well as to prevent undue haste in legislation, nu¬ 
merous rules are established, and in addition to the standing 
rules governing the affairs of each House as independent bod- 


“ I forbid.” 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


5 ° 

ies, there are joint rules governing them in their mutual inter¬ 
course. 

The rule of the Senate regulating debate is as follows : 

1. When a Senator desires to speak he shall rise and address the Presiding 
Officer, and shall not proceed until he is recognized, and the Presiding 
Officer shall recognize the Senator who shall first address him. No Sena¬ 
tor shall interrupt another Senator in debate without his consent, and to 
obtain such consent he shall first address the Presiding Officer; and no 
Senator shall speak more than twice upon any one question in debate on 
the same day without leave of the Senate ; which shall be determined with¬ 
out debate. 

2. If any Senator, in speaking or otherwise , transgress the rules of the 
Senate, the Presiding Officer shall, or any Senator may, call him to order ; 
and when a Senator shall be called to order he shall sit down, and not pro¬ 
ceed without leave of the Senate, which, if granted, shall be upon motion 
that he be allowed to proceed in order; which motion shall be determined 
without debate. 

3. If a Senator be called to order for words spoken in debate, upon the 
demand of the Senator or of any other Senator the exceptionable words shall 
be taken down in writing, and read at the table for the information of the 
Senate. 

The corresponding regulations of the House of Representa¬ 
tives are stated in one long rule, significantly entitled “ of De- 
cormff and Debate,” from which I take the following extracts : 

1. When any member desires to speak or deliver any matter to the 
House, he shall rise and respectfully address himself to “Mr. Speaker,” 
and, on being recognized, may address the House, from any place on the 
floor or from the Clerk’s desk, and shall confine himself to the question 
under debate, avoiding personality. 


2. When two or more members rise at once, the Speaker shall name 
the member who is first to speak ; and no member shall occupy more than 
one hour in debate on any question in the House or in committee, except 

as further provided in this rule. 

4. If any member, in speaking or otherwise, transgress the rules of the 
House, the Speaker shall, or any member may, call him to order ; in 
which case he shall immediately sit down, unless permitted, on motion of 


PROCEDURE. 


another member, to explain, and the House shall, if appealed to, decide 
on the case, without debate ; if the decision is in favor of the member 
called to order, he shall be at liberty to proceed, but not otherwise ; and, 
if the case require it , he shall be liable to censure or such punishment as 
the House may deem proper. 

5 - If a member is called to order for words spoken in debate, the mem¬ 
ber calling him to order shall indicate the words excepted to, and they 
shall be taken down in writing at the Clerk’s desk and read aloud to the 
House. 

6. No member shall speak more than once to the same question without 
leave of the House, unless he shall be the mover, proposer, or introducer 
of the matter pending, in which case he shall be permitted to speak in 
reply, but not until every member choosing to speak shall have spoken. 

7. While the Speaker is putting a question or addressing the House no 
member shall walk out of or across the hall , nor, when a member is speak¬ 
ing, pass between him and the Chair; and during the session of the House 
no member shall wear his hat , or remain by the Clerk's desk during the call 
of the roll or the counting of ballots , or smoke upon the floor of the House; 
and the Sergeant-at-Arms'and Door-keeper are charged with the strict en¬ 
forcement of this clause. 

It cannot fail to be noticed how much more strict are the rules 
of the House than those established by the Senate. The latter 
body apparently is unwilling to assume that it is possible for 
a Senator to be guilty of wearing his hat or smoking upon the 
floor of the Chamber, and it therefore makes no express provi¬ 
sion on that subject; and, as a matter of fact, they always do 
retire to the cloak-rooms when they wish to smoke, which is 
more than can be said of the members of the House. Nor 
does the Senate assume that the power of its Sergeant-at- 
Arms is necessary to restrain the Senators from disorderly 
conduct. Indeed, its rule does not mention the word “ deco¬ 
rum,” at all. 

At one time the Senate did have a provision prohibiting any 
Senator from even speaking to another or reading a newspaper, 
during the reading of the journals or public papers, or while any 



AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


member was speaking in debate; but this regulation was aban¬ 
doned. I may here note that some rules are usually more hon¬ 
ored in the breach than in the observance, on the part of both 
Senators and Representatives ; although, of course, this is done 
by implied consent, for whenever a Senator or Representative 
calls the attention of the presiding officer to the fact that any 
rule is being violated, which is called making a “ point of or¬ 
der,” it is the duty of the presiding officer to at once enforce 
that rule, however severe or apparently unnecessary. 

One provision common to both bodies is generally enforced. 
It is made the imperative duty of the presiding officer to call a 
Senator or Representative to order when guilty of a transgression 
of the rules. Many things might occur which would be con¬ 
trary to decorous notions, and yet for which the standing rules 
fail to provide. In such cases, each House tacitly recognizes 
the right of its presiding officer to apply the general principles 
which regulate the proceedings of the British Parliament (after 
whose general plan the Houses of Congress were fashioned) 
and obtain in other deliberative assemblies. These unwritten 
rules declare it to be a violation of order for a member of one 
branch of Congress to refer to any action in the other branch, 
or to address a fellow-member by name, or to indulge in per¬ 
sonalities, and the slightest tendency toward their infringe¬ 
ment is, I may say, instantly checked by the President of the 
Senate. 

But while it is also improper, according to parliamentary de¬ 
cisions, to walk across the room, “ or to walk up and down, or 
to take books or papers from the table, or write there,” these 
injunctions are not, ordinarily, observed. 

There is another parliamentary maxim seldom, if ever, ap¬ 
plied, which declares that— 

No one is to speak impertinently or beside the question, superfluously, 
or tediously , 


PROCEDURE. 


S3 


And it is also laid down by a learned authority, that— 

If a member finds that it is not the inclination of the House to hear 
him, and that by conversation or any other noise they endeavor to drown 
his voice, it is his most prudent way to submit to the pleasure of the House, 
and sit down j for it scarcely ever happens that they are guilty of this piece 
of ill-manners without sufficient reason, or inattentive to a member who 
says anything worth their hearing. 

This may be good philosophy, but as it has not the force of 
a commandment some members of Congress are not disposed 
to heed it. 

The most noticeable difference between the standing rules 
of the two Houses is the limitation upon debate. In the Senate 
there is only one restriction—a Senator shall not, without leave, 
speak more than twice on any one question in debate on the same 
day. Having obtained the floor he might hold it and speak till 
doomsday, so far as any express rule to the contrary is con¬ 
cerned ; still, the constitutional limitation upon the length of a 
Congress and upon his term of office would eventually bring 
him to a halt, even if the presiding officer should not enforce 
the unwritten rule against superfluous and tedious talk. 

The rule of the House is positive and emphatic—no member 
(subject to certain exceptions) shall, without leave, speak more 
than 07 ice to the same question , nor shall he occupy more than 
one hour. Some such restriction is absolutely necessary in so 
large a body; for, if each member were to speak one whole 
day on the same subject, the House would be obliged to sit 
every day in the year in order to pass a single bill. And yet 
some members have denounced this one-hour rule as “ tyranny! ” 
and “ gag-law ! ” 

There is another feature of still more importance—a feat¬ 
ure unknown to the Senate, but worshipped by the majority in 
the House. I mean the previous question. When any question 
is before the House, any member may move a previous question , 


54 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


which signifies, “ Shall the question pending before the House 
(called the main question) be now put ? ” The call being sustained 
by a majority of the members present, all discussion upon that 
question—whatever it may be—is instantly ended, and the 
House is brought at once to a vote upon it. It will thus be 
seen that the device of the previous question enables a majority 
at any time to shut off debate and put the minority to silence 
by a prompt and final vote on the immediate question under 
consideration. This power of the majority, therefore, may seri¬ 
ously interfere with the rights of the minority, about which we 
shall speak hereafter. 

The previous question applies only to proceedings in the 
a House ” proper, and to get away from its operation and from 
other restraints upon free discussion is one of the great objects 
in going into' Committee of the Whole. Still, the majority can 
at anytime order the Committee to “ rise,” and, upon going 
back into the House, can enforce their power by demanding 
the previous question , or by passing an order limiting debate 
or otherwise binding upon the members should they return to 
discuss the same subject in Committee. The previous question 
also comes in for a goodly share of denunciation as “ tyranny ! ” 
etc. 

In the discussion of certain bills and resolutions, for the con¬ 
sideration of which a portion of each day is assigned, the Sen¬ 
ate applies what is known as the “ five-minute rule.” This rule 
restricts debate upon any question to five minutes, but as it re¬ 
lates only to measures to whose consideration no objection is 
made, it is practically no exception to the unlimited privilege 
of debate mentioned. This five-minute restriction may, by 
temporary order, and under a pressure of business, be made to 
apply on other occasions. It obtains especially in the House. 
Its strict application, however, is evaded in both bodies by a 
very simple trick, called the “ pro forma amendment.” For 


PROCEDURE. 


55 


example : A bill is before the House and the five-minute rule 
in operation. An amendment to one of the sections of the bill 
is proposed and is the immediate, or pending, question. A 
member opposed to the amendment rises and begins to state 
his objections. In the middle of a sentence his time expires, 
and the sentence is cut short by the descent of the Speaker’s 
gavel. Without making the slightest movement toward taking 
his seat, the member rapidly says, in the same tone of voice, as 
if a part of his remarks, “ I move to strike out the last word,” 
and then goes straight along and continues his speech for an¬ 
other five minutes, as if no interruption had occurred. This is 
all right, under the rule, because theoretically he is not talking 
to the original amendment, but is speaking on another and dis¬ 
tinct question—his pending “ amendment to the amendment ”— 
and is entitled to five minutes on that question. When stopped 
the second time, and not being permitted to propose further 
amendment (an amendment to an amendment being the extent 
of any motion, as otherwise a member might continue to move 
to amend by “ striking out words,” one at a time, and thus 
speaking indefinitely), he says, “ I withdraw the amendment,” 
and takes his seat. Then another member rises, talks for five 
minutes, is cut short, renews the same old amendment about 
the “last word,” speaks for another five minutes, is stopped a 
second time, withdraws the amendment, and resumes his seat. 
And so it goes on and on, over and over again, each member 
after finishing his remarks, withdrawing the pro forma amend¬ 
ment, merely to let the next speaker renew it or perhaps vary 
it by a motion “ to strike out next to the last word.” If a mem¬ 
ber cannot express his additional ideas in the five minutes thus 
secured, he can proceed only by unanimous consent, or by hav¬ 
ing some friend obtain the floor and yield to him the time to 
which he (that friend) is entitled. The pro forma amendment 
is an innocent device, but the way in which it is used in the 


56 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


House of Representatives renders the five-minute provision 
somewhat ridiculous. 

It is admitted, on every side, that the rules of the House in 
regard to “ precedence ” and other matters pertaining to the 
transaction of business, obstruct rather than facilitate legislation, 
and the number of objections that may be raised under these 
rules is really bewildering. Indeed, an official reporter has 
estimated that two-thirds of the time of the House are con¬ 
sumed in the discussion of mere points of order / 

Altogether, there is no particular danger to the Republic 
because members of the House are limited to one hour. 










1 




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CHAPTER VI. 


LEGISLATION. 

The daily routine of the Senate, as I observed it, was very 
simple. After prayers by the Chaplain, the next thing was the 
reading of the journal of the previous day by one of the clerks. 
After that, the Vice-President would lay before the Senate 
messages from the President of the United States and other 
papers upon his table. Then he would announce petitions and 
memorials to be in order. Of course the people of the United 
States, having sent these men to Congress to make laws for 
them, have a right to tell them what laws they wish enacted, 
and the First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits Congress 
from interfering with this right. All the memorials having 
been presented, reports of committees, bills, and other papers 
were submitted. For the presentation of these matters, the 
first hour of every day was set apart, and the labor of carrying 
the papers to the desk devolved upon the pages. After the 
“ morning hour,” the Senate generally devoted itself to the 
consideration of those measures which lead to the great debates 
of Congress, and result in the enactment of important laws. 
As you may wish to know something about the course of legis¬ 
lation, I shall try to enlighten you. 

Let us take a convenient illustration. Suppose all of you 
young folk should suddenly acquire a keen appetite for honey— 
that you could, in fact, eat nothing else—and that you should 
prefer the honey produced abroad by foreign industry to that 
of the busy bees of our own land. Now, the gathering of the 


58 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


honey from the hives, putting it into cases, or extracting it 
from the comb, and bottling, together with its transportation 
over thousands of miles, are items which involve considerable 
expense. Then, too, the farmer, or producer, is entitled to 
some compensation in the way of interest on the money which 
he has invested in bees and other features of his business. 
The wholesale merchant, who buys it from the producer, the 
retail dealer, who buys it from the wholesale merchant, each 
adds to its cost a reasonable amount by way of profit. All 
these matters enhance its natural value, or, in simpler words, 
make the honey worth more to you than it would actually be 
worth if you could obtain it directly from the workshop of the 
bees. In addition to these, however, there is another thing 
that seriously affects the price. 

Money is required to run the ponderous machinery of Gov¬ 
ernment. The legislators, the President and other executive 
officers, the judges, the soldiers, sailors, and miscellaneous 
“servants of the people” do not work for mere love. They 
must be paid for their services in money. The noble volunteers 
who, to protect their country’s flag, risked death upon the battle¬ 
field, and returned to their homes crippled, wrecked in health, 
disabled for work, deserve something better than empty hand¬ 
shakings on the part of the Union. The officers of Government 
cannot all do their work in the open air, nor can commerce navi¬ 
gate over rocks and reefs. Public buildings must be erected, 
harbors and rivers improved, light-houses built. These cannot 
be had for nothing. Then there is the Indian. We stole his 
lands. He expects us to pay his board. We have agreed to do it. 

These and other matters connected with the management 
of national affairs cost millions of dollars annually. How is the 
money to be raised ? The Constitution points out to Congress 
the way—Taxes ! Taxes ! 

There are two kinds of taxes —direct and indirect. While a 


LEGISLA TION. 


59 


handsome yearly income is derived from sales of public lands 
and from other sources, the Government depends for its hun¬ 
dreds of millions upon indirect taxation. One species of in¬ 
direct taxation is what is styled the “ Internal Revenue,” which 
taxes domestic evils, like the liquor traffic, and yields the Gov¬ 
ernment an immense sum. 

But its most profitable indirect device is the “ Tariff.” 
Upon certain products and manufactures brought to our shores 
from other lands, it lays a tax, or “ duty,” and that duty must 
be paid to the proper Government officials (called “customs- 
officers” or “ custom-house officers) ” before the things can be 
sold in this country. On every pound of figs brought to this 
country, the Government, through its customs-officers, collects 
two cents. Slates and slate-pencils from abroad must pay 
thirty cents for every dollar of their worth. When you buy 
these things, you pay much more than actual values. A part of 
the excess goes into the Treasury of the United States as a duty, 
or indirect tax ; for, of course, the dealer who imports these ar¬ 
ticles includes this extra cost in the price charged the purchaser. 
You little folk have perhaps no idea how much you contribute 
every year to defray the expenses of our grand Republic ! Dolls 
and toys not made in this country must pay thirty-five cents on 
every dollar of their value ; foreign beef and pork are taxed one 
cent per pound ; vinegar, seven and a half cents per gallon ; 
oats, ten cents a bushel; mackerel, one cent per pound. Bon¬ 
nets, hats, and hoods, for men, women, and children ; canes and 
walking-sticks ; brooms, combs, jewelry, precious stones, musi¬ 
cal instruments of all kinds, playing cards, paintings, and stat¬ 
uary—these are also heavily taxed by this revenue-raising law. 

I should state, however, that all articles from abroad are 
not taxed. There is what is known as the “ Free List,” on 
which are placed certain imports exempt from duty, such as 
nux vomica, assafoetida, charcoal, divi-divi, dragon’s blood, 


6o 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Bologna sausages, eggs, fossils, and the like. But the great 
bulk of important staples used in every-day life does not come 
within this favored class. Chemical products ; earthenware and 
glassware ; metals ; wood and woodenwares ; sugar ; tobacco ; 
provisions ; cotton and cotton goods ; hemp, jute, and flax 
goods ; wool and woollens ; silk and silk goods ; books, papers, 
etc.; and sundries—thus reads the Tariff List. 

This is what is called “ Protection.” That is, putting heavy 
duties on foreign articles and commodities raises the price of 
those foreign articles, and prevents them from competing with 
the products of American industry. 

It may be proper to observe, in connection with this, that 
the tariff question is one which has disturbed, and is likely to 
continue to disturb, the political parties of the country for many 
years. Those who think that our industries are in danger from 
foreign competition and that the lowering of values would seri¬ 
ously affect the wages of the laboring men, believe in what is 
known as a “ high protective tariff”; others, who think that 
competition would not do harm, but that this species of indi¬ 
rect taxation is the best mode of raising the necessary funds for 
governmental purposes, believe in “ tariff for revenue only” ; 
and those who are of an altogether different way of thinking 
and who believe that the Government should derive its revenue 
by direct taxation or from other sources than foreign imports, 
speak up for absolute “ free trade.” Which of these three 
classes of believers or unbelievers is right in its views I do not 
undertake to say, but leave the question open for you to de¬ 
cide when you grow older and know more about the science 
of political economy and government. 

The present tariff imposes upon foreign honey a duty of 
twenty cents a gallon.* We will say that you consider this a 

* That is, under the Act of March 3, 1883, from which these other statistics are 
taken. 


LEGISLATION. 


6 1 


dreadful tax on such a “ necessary,” and that you would, under 
the circumstances supposed, try to have it removed. Accord- 
ingly, you would prepare and sign a petition to Congress, set¬ 
ting forth the hardship of this extra expense imposed upon you 
as purchasers and consumers of the commodity, and asking 
that the tax be abolished. Now, let us further suppose that I 
represent your district in Congress. (I say, “ suppose.”) 

Very well. You would send that petition to me, as your 
Representative, that I might present it to the House. Having 
been presented, it would be referred to a committee for exam¬ 
ination. As the removal of the duty would reduce the revenue 
of the Government, the petition would be sent to the Committee 
on Ways and Means. This committee, which is a very impor¬ 
tant one and consists of thirteen of the ablest members of the 
House, would read your petition and examine into the matter. 
There would then be two obstacles to overcome. 

In the first place, the committee, or a majority of the mem¬ 
bers, might not wish to reduce the receipts of the national treas¬ 
ury without strong reasons being shown, and might invite you 
to explain the urgency of your demand. In the second place, 
the removal of the duty would not only affect the revenue of the 
Government, but would cut down the profits of American honey- 
producers or dealers, because the foreign farmers and merchants 
would thus be enabled to sell their honey at least twenty cents 
per gallon less than they can sell it under the present state of 
affairs. In other words, it would provoke competition, and 
the price would probably fall far below that now charged at an 
ordinary grocery-store. The American dealers would, naturally 
enough, oppose your designs as hostile to their interests, and 
request a hearing before the committee. Each side might em¬ 
ploy lawyers to speak in its behalf, or might appear and per¬ 
sonally argue the matter, whichever way the committee might 
prefer. But there would hardly be room for preference between 


64 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


reach of danger from the House. The Clerk of the House 
then certifies the bill, notes on it the date of its passage, and 
takes it (together with your petition and the other papers in 
the case) to the Senate. In the Senate it is referred to the 
Committee on Finance, reported back, discussed, and (we shall 
assume) passed. The Secretary of the Senate carries it to the 
House and notifies that body of its passage by the Senate. It 
has now become an u Act of Congress/’ and is enrolled on parch¬ 
ment by the Clerk of the House (it being a House bill), and ex¬ 
amined by the Joint Committee on Enrolled Bills, who see that 
no errors have been made by the enrolling clerks, and who re¬ 
port to the House. Then it is signed by the Speaker and the 
President of the Senate, the Clerk of the House certifies that it 
originated in that body, and a member of the joint committee 
takes it to the President of the United States, who, having ten 
days in which to reflect, finally thinks it a good act and signs 
it. It is at last a law. The President notifies the House of 
Representatives of his approval; the parchment is deposited 
among the public archives in the State Department ; the law is 
duly published, under the direction of the Secretary of State, 
as a statute-at-large of the United States ; foreign producers 
and merchants see it; competition at once begins, and the price 
of imported honey is very apt to fall. 

This is a rough and hurried sketch of the travels of a meas¬ 
ure on its road to enactment as a law. I have not stopped to 
consider its chances of defeat, (i) The Senate Committee 
might have “pigeon-holed” it or not reported it back to the 
Senate. Or (2) a majority of the Senate might have voted 
against its enactment, and thus have killed it outright. (3) 
They might have amended it, the House might have refused to 
concur in the amendments, joint conference committees of the 
two Houses might have been appointed to reconcile the Houses 
by some sort of compromise, either House might have refused 


LEG/SLA TION. 


65 


to agree to any report of such committee and insisted upon its 
position, and the disagreement (or “ dead-lock ”) might have 
sealed the fate of the bill. (4) On the other hand, one of the 
Houses might have receded from its position, and the bill might 
have passed with or without amendment. Again, it would have 
been an act. But (5) the President of the United States might 
have objected to it, and forbidden it, by his veto, from be¬ 
coming a law. In that event, he would have returned it to the 
House with his objections ; and unless the House and Senate, 
each by a two-thirds vote of the members present, should have 
again passed it over the veto, the measure would have been de¬ 
feated. 

It is unnecessary to weary you by detailing the many diffi¬ 
culties an objectionable measure would encounter. I have en¬ 
deavored, however, to show you that there are safeguards 
thrown around the proceedings of Congress for the purpose of 
preventing improper legislation from being rushed through 
without, at least, warning the people of it and giving them an 
opportunity to protest. An explanation of the rules established 
by both Houses to this end would fill a large volume. Some of 
them are abstruse and apparently incomprehensible, but they 
all are supposed to have a wise object in view—namely, to 
protect the people of the country from the enactment of bad 
laws. If, therefore, a harsh or unjust measure should at any 
time be enacted by Congress, you will understand the reason 
and know the moral to be drawn from it—that a majority of 
the law-makers have not done their duty, and that their places 
should be filled by better men. 

5 


CHAPTER VII. 


THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 

Rules, edicts, judgments—all such matters which merely 
express the will of authority—are, in themselves, of no more 
value than the paper on which they are inscribed. There 
should be means, there should be power, to enforce obedience 
to commands. Congress, as the legislative department of the 
Government, can only make laws ; it is for the executive de¬ 
partment to see that those laws are carried into effect. 

The executive power of the Federal Government is vested 
in the President of the United States. He is the head of the 
Republic. He is the “Commander-in-Chief of the Army and 
Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several 
States when called into the actual service of the United States.” 
He is charged with the execution of our laws at home and the 
protection of our rights abroad. For the welfare of the country 
and the advancement of its commercial and general interests in 
its intercourse with other nations, he has authority, by and 
with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate, to 
make treaties with foreign powers. Furthermore, in the words 
of the Constitution, “ He shall nominate, and by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, 
other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme 
Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose ap¬ 
pointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which 
shall be established by law : but the Congress may by law vest 



















































































































































































































































HWv 


The White Hous^ by Night. 




THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE . 


67 


the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, 
in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of 
departments.” And by way of compensation for his labors and 
to maintain a style in keeping with the dignity of his office, he 
is paid a salary of $50,000 a year, allowed rent-free the use of 
the Executive Mansion, or White House, at Washington, in 
which he resides and has his official headquarters, and thou¬ 
sands of dollars are annually appropriated to defray the ex¬ 
penses of his household. 

So vast and varied are the affairs whose management is en¬ 
trusted to the President, that Congress has found it advisable 
to distribute the duties of administration among seven “ estab¬ 
lished executive departments,” as follows : 

1. The Department of State. 

2. The Department of War. 

3. The Department of the Treasury. 

4. The Department of Justice. 

5. The Post-office Department. 

6. The Department of the Navy. 

7. The Department of the Interior. 

These administrative departments are presided over by offi¬ 
cers, styled “ Heads of Department,” and known respectively 
as the Secretary of State, Secretary of War, Secretary of the 
Treasury, Attorney-General, Postmaster-General, Secretary of 
the Navy, and Secretary of the Interior. Together, they form 
the “Cabinet,” or body of “confidential advisers” of the 
President, whose instructions it is their duty to see carried out 
by the thousands of civil, military, and naval officers in the 
employ of the Government. 

The duties of the various executive departments are, I 
may say, almost infinite. The State Department was created on 


68 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


July 27, 1789, by the name of “Department of Foreign Af¬ 
fairs ” ; but this name was changed within two months after¬ 
ward. The Secretary of State is first in rank of all the mem¬ 
bers of the Cabinet, and is sometimes (though not accurately) 
referred to as “ The Premier.” He is the “ right-hand man” 
of the President; attends to the foreign interests of the country, 
through its ambassadors, ministers, and other agents abroad, or 
through the diplomatic representatives of foreign powers ac¬ 
credited to the United States ; conducts the correspondence 
between the President and the Governors, or Executives, of the 
States; is custodian of the great seal, and of the treaties and 
laws of the United States, and in other ways is a very promi¬ 
nent officer. 

The Secretary of War has charge of the military service, and 
executes the orders of the President as Commander-in-Chief of 
the Army. 

The Secretary of the Treasury superintends the national 
finances. He is the tax-gatherer and paymaster of the Gov¬ 
ernment. From customs duties, internal revenue, and other 
sources, millions of dollars annually flow into the public vaults, 
the key to which is kept by the disbursing officer, or Treasurer. 
The Secretary must not let any of these funds slip away without 
permission of law, and every cent received and expended must 
be regularly accounted for. 

The Attorney-General gives the President his opinion in 
regard to the meaning of Congressional legislation and other 
matters of doubt, when called upon for legal advice, and repre¬ 
sents the Government in all litigation in which its interests are 
involved. 

The Postmaster-General looks after the transmission of the 
mail, and, as his title implies, is chief of all the postmasters, 
carriers, and postal agents in the United States. 

The Secretary of the Navy has charge of the naval service, 


THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE. 


69 


and executes the orders of the President as Commander-in-Chief 
of the Navy. He and the Secretary of War have a compara¬ 
tively easy time in years of peace, and they have one advan¬ 
tage over the other Cabinet officers. Whenever they go within 
reach of a fort or arsenal or navy-yard, the soldiers and marines 
present arms and the cannon roar out a welcoming salute. 

The Secretary of the Interior looks after the Indians—the 
“ wards of the nation.” He also has charge of patents, public 
lands, and pensions, and makes himself generally useful. He 
is a sort of jack-of-all-trades, having charge of nearly everything 
that does not come within the duties of the other executive de¬ 
partments. 

I have named the departments in the order of their estab¬ 
lishment by Congress. The Department of the Interior was 
not established until 1849, and the Attorney-General and Post¬ 
master-General had to wait some years before becoming Cabinet 
officers. Originally, the Secretary of War had control of both 
the land and the naval forces of the country, but in 1798 his 
maritime duties were taken away and lodged in a separate de¬ 
partment. The expansion of our naval and military interests 
required this action. 

Each of these Cabinet officers now gets a salary of $8,000 
a year. They are appointed by the President, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate ; and it is often a difficult 
question for a public man to decide whether or not to resign a 
seat in the Senate in order to accept a Cabinet portfolio, or the 
reverse. The honors are about equal. 

The headquarters of the executive departments are situ¬ 
ated at the seat of Government, and the splendid structures 
assigned to their use have, with the White House and Capitol, 
given to the place the complimentary title “ City of Palaces.” 
Anyone who passes the sombre Treasury-building on an after¬ 
noon at about four o’clock, when the army of clerks are leaving 


7° AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 

for the day, readily understands why some folks have the no¬ 
tion that every resident in the Federal city is a Government 



officer. They pour out through all the doors in one continuous 
stream, to which there seems to be no end. They are of all 






















THE FEDERAL EXECUTIVE . 


7 1 


ages and conditions. An old colored man, who has picked 
cotton beneath the lash of slavery, comes merrily along, proud 
of the fact that he can now work for greenbacks and support 
his family in comfort; a pretty girl, thinking perhaps of a 
new hat or humming a tune from an opera; a gray-haired 
veteran, familiar with the secrets of many an Administration of 
by-gone years ; a middle-aged woman, with a face furrowed by 
the iron fingers of care, struggling to maintain her orphaned 
children ; a happy-go-lucky, dandy-looking stripling, twirling 
his cane with one hand and gracefully twisting his mustache 
with the other—these are but a few specimens of those who 
follow in quick succession. 

To attempt to convey a proper idea of all the subordinate 
civil bureaus and offices created by Congress and their special 
duties, would be perplexing. The assistants to the Executive 
are legion in number, and scattered far and wide throughout 
the country and throughout the world. The law-makers have 
provided by law, that the President may appoint many of his 
minor assistants without consulting the Senate ; the others can 
be appointed only with the permission of a majority of the 
Senate, except (as stated in the Constitution) during the recess 
of that body. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


SECRET SESSIONS. 

While the chief business and object of Congress is legisla¬ 
tion, each House possesses certain other functions and privi¬ 
leges of great consequence. After I had been in the Senate a 
few days, I became acquainted with one of the special powers 
belonging exclusively to that body—a power derived from con¬ 
stitutional provisions referred to in the last chapter. 

When the President wishes to appoint a man to an impor¬ 
tant position in the Federal service, such as cannot be filled by 
him without the consent of the Senate, he so notifies the Sen¬ 
ate, stating the name of the person and the office which he de¬ 
sires him to occupy. This naming of the person is termed a 
“ nomination.” As various official places are constantly be¬ 
coming vacant by the death, resignation, or dismissal of the 
people holding them, many of these nominations are annually 
sent in to the Senate by the President. 

When it is found desirable to enter into a treaty, the 
President confers, through the Department of State, with 
the foreign minister to the United States, or, by means of 
our own diplomatic agents abroad, with the home officials of 
such foreign power in their own country ; an agreement satis¬ 
factory to each side is drawn up and signed by the representa¬ 
tives of the respective countries, and this agreement or draft of 
the treaty is transmitted by the President to the Senate. 


SECRET SESSIONS. 


73 


Whenever any of these nominations, or drafts of treaties, or 
any other confidential communications are submitted by the 
President, the Senate considers them in what is known as 
“ executive session ”—that is, a session devoted to action upon 
messages from the President—in which case the proceedings 
are secret, the galleries and floor being cleared of spectators, 
and the Senate sitting with “closed doors.” Only a few offi- 



The United States Post-Office Department. 


cers in addition to the Senators are allowed to remain in the 
Chamber. Even the pages are excluded. All the doors lead¬ 
ing to the Senate are shut and, together with the gallery-stairs, 
securely guarded against intruders. 

During such sessions, those highly valued and confidential 
officials, Captain Bassett and Mr. Christie took upon themselves, 
for the time being, our duties within the Chamber, conveying 














7 4 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


the messages to the various doors at which we were stationed in 
small relays. Instead of remaining at our proper posts, how¬ 
ever, we were more likely to be wandering up on the dome 
or in some other far-away place quite out of reach. An ex¬ 
ecutive session was, with us, what a recess is to a school-boy, 
and we varied the monotony by promenading from door to 
door, changing stations with one another, racing up and down 
the corridors, catching ball on the portico, or doing such other 
things as might suggest themselves. My post was in the 
vestibule at the most important or main entrance, and we 
all used to delight to assemble in that small space—with only 
the wooden doors separating us from the Senate-chamber— 
and, standing up in the marble niches and on the floor, “ make 
the welkin ring.” More than half of Mr. Christie’s duty seemed 
to be to put his head through the door and tell us to keep 
quiet. I do not think our efforts were ever appreciated by the 
law-makers on the other side of the partition. In the goodness 
of our hearts, we had no other purpose than to give the Sena¬ 
tors a serenade. 

These executive matters are referred to committees for ex¬ 
amination in the same manner as legislative measures. For 
example—the nomination of a person as postmaster in a cer¬ 
tain city is referred to the Committee on Post Offices and Post 
Roads ; a nomination as judge, to the Committee on the Judici¬ 
ary ; the draft of a treaty to the Committee on Foreign Rela¬ 
tions. The committees discuss the matter and report their 
views to the Senate in secret session. Some of the Senators 
may not like the man nominated for a certain office and may 
oppose the “ confirmation ” of the nomination, as the approval, 
or “ advice and consent,” of the Senate is styled. Then the 
friends and enemies of the man have a debate over the matter. 
Of course, outsiders are not supposed to know what they say, 
but it is presumed that the enemies tell everything they kn 


SECRET SESSIONS. 


7 5 


or have heard against the man, to show that he is unfit to hold 
the proposed office ; and his friends, as true friends should, show 
the falsity of these charges, or otherwise answer or dispose of 
them. A treaty goes through nearly the same course as a 
bill. A vote is then taken upon the confirmation of the nomi¬ 
nation, or ratification of the treaty. If a majority vote in favor 
of the person, the President may appoint the man ; otherwise 
not. If two-thirds so vote in favor of the treaty, the treaty is 
ratified by a ** resolution of ratification,” and, when also ratified 
by the proper foreign authority with whom it is made, the rati¬ 
fications are exchanged between the officials representing the 
two Governments (either at Washington or at such other place 
as may be named in the agreement), and the treaty becomes 
law, binding upon us and upon the other Government. 

One day, shortly after my appointment, I returned to the 
Senate-chamber, having been sent on a message to the House 
of Representatives. As I entered I heard a great deal of bus¬ 
tle, and, looking up toward the galleries, I saw all the people 
going out. I supposed that the Senate had adjourned, and at 
once rushed for my awl and began to do my filing—a daily task 
which consisted in attaching together by tape the bills and 
other printed matter distributed every morning on the desk of 
each Senator. 

It was my duty to attend to Senator Sumner’s files, and so, 
kneeling on the carpet, beside his desk, I was soon busily en¬ 
gaged, and did not pay any attention to what was going on 
about me. I had been at work there, I do not know how long, 
when, all of a sudden I was startled by someone catching hold 
of my ear, and, glancing up, I saw Senator Sumner gazing at 
me with evident curiosity. I noticed that the galleries were 
entirely empty, and that the doors were closed. I then heard 
somebody talking, and realized that business was being trans¬ 
acted in the Senate. I could not understand it at all. The 


76 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Senator continued to look quizzically at me, and finally asked 
what I was doing there. I told him. “ Well/’ said he, “ I 
would advise you to get out of this as soon as you can,” and, 
lifting me gently (! ! !) up by the ear, he exhibited me to the sur¬ 
rounding Senators. I was so small and had been so quiet that 
none of them had seen me, and they all smiled when I bobbed 
up so unexpectedly, like a jack-in-the-box. There was some¬ 
thing in the air, though, like the mystic whisper of a fairy, that 
advised me to take to my heels, and I ran for the nearest door. 
To my horror, it was locked ! Then I ran to another, and found 
that also locked. I was a caged animal, and my fright increased 
every moment. Happily, I caught the eye of Captain Bassett, 
and he motioned toward a certain lobby door. I rushed ; to my 
surprise it opened, like the entrance to the Robber’s Cave, and 
I thanked my stars when I got out! Just beyond the lobby I 
found a group of people collected in the corridor who seemed 
to be amazed to see me appearing from that quarter. Then, for 
the first time, I was told what an executive session of the Sen¬ 
ate was, and how awful were its deliberations. I was informed 
that it was a deadly crime for anyone to listen to such proceed¬ 
ings, and for some time afterward I was in a state of terror, 
fearing that I should be arrested and punished. However, my 
fears were finally quieted by Captain Bassett, who explained 
the matter to me, and, saying that no harm had been done in 
that instance, advised me to be more careful in the future. 
And I was—that is to say, I have many a time since then lain 
awake on one of the gallery-seats, and heard the Senators dis¬ 
cuss “ secret” business with closed doors ! 

Secret sessions, by the way, are unpopular. There may be 
some executive and legislative matters proper to be discussed 
only in private, but, as a general thing, the people who employ 
these law-makers in Congress, demand the right to oversee 
them at their work. The members of the House, being directly 


SECRET SESSIONS. 


77 


under the control of the people, evidently fear them more than 
the Senators do. As a consequence, they hold secret sessions 
only on exceptional occasions, and although, for some years, 
women were excluded from their gallery, everyone is now ad¬ 
mitted, without regard to age, sex, race, or previous condition 
of servitude. It was not until 1795—nearly six years after the 



The Treasury Department. 


meeting of the First Congress—that the Senate recognized the 
justice of the demand for open sessions on the part of the 
people. Before that time, all its sessions had been conducted 
with closed doors. Now, however, its debates and proceed¬ 
ings, like those of the House, are always open to the public, 
except when it is engaged upon executive or other peculiarly 
confidential affairs. A strong effort has lately been made by 























78 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


some Senators to abolish secret sessions altogether, but at this 
writing the resolutions on the subject remain unacted upon by 
the Senate. 

It is a breach of confidence for a member or an officer of 
the Senate to disclose the transactions of a secret session, until 
the removal of the injunction of secrecy by a formal resolution 
of that body ; and one of its rules provides, that anyone so 
disclosing “the secret or confidential business or proceedings 
of the Senate shall be liable, if a Senator, to suffer expulsion 
from the body; and if an officer, to dismissal from the service 
of the Senate, and to punishment for contempt.” Still, news¬ 
paper correspondents generally manage to find them out, in 
some way. So well known was their accomplishment in this 
direction, that Senators would oftentimes go to the reporters 
for information as to what had been done in secret session, 
instead of the reporters to the Senators ! Once a Senator, 
strolling to the Senate rather late in the afternoon, met a cor¬ 
respondent coming from the Capitol. The law-maker asked 
what was being done in the Senate. “ Oh, nothing important,” 
was the answer ; “ they have just gone out of executive ses¬ 
sion and are now discussing the subject they had up yester¬ 
day.” The Senator was evidently interested in some nomina¬ 
tion or other business, and so he persisted, and asked the corre¬ 
spondent what action had been taken in executive session. 
The newspaper man coolly eyed the Senator for a few mo¬ 
ments, and then cautiously remarked : “ Well, you Congress¬ 
men are getting to be such free talkers I think I’d better not 
tell you ! ” 

Whether or not the journalist was induced to tell the Sen¬ 
ator what had been done, I am uninformed. If not, it is the 
most remarkable case of “ golden silence ” in the annals of the 
world. 


CHAPTER IX. 


EXTRAVA GANZA. 

It may not be out of place to leave for a while the more 
sober and imposing side of life among the law-makers and take 
a glimpse at some of the comicalities which we Senate-pages 
enjoyed. 

Many of my companions were born actors, equally success¬ 
ful in tragedy and in comedy. One in particular, whom I 
may call “ Tom,” had ah especial preference for the character 
in Shakspearean and other tragedies known as the “ heavy 
villain,” and he was usually encountered, cane in hand, wildly 
fencing the air with “ two up, two down, and a lunge.” One 
day, during an executive session of the Senate, we were all as¬ 
sembled in our favorite vestibule, when this page began de¬ 
claiming in his usual high style and thrusting around at imagi¬ 
nary ghosts and foes. The door leading to the Chamber was 
shut, and he would occasionally make a violent charge at it. 
Having recited King Richard’s famous nightmare and a few 
other choice selections (which we, standing in the marble niches, 
properly applauded), he cried out lustily: 

Slave, I have set my life upon a cast, 

And I will stand the hazard of the die. 

I think there be six Richmonds in the field ; 

Five have I slain to-day, instead of him. 


8o 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Just at this moment the door slowly opened from within. 
Tom, however, had prepared to “charge” and, with his eyes 
fiercely rolling and head downward, was altogether too excited 
to notice our “ alarums ” ; and as he declaimed the famous line, 

A horse! a horse ! my kingdom for a horse ! 

he made a leap, and, with a terrific dive of the cane—took a 
certain well-known Senator full in his legislative stomach ! 

There was, in truth, a decidedly hasty “ retreat and flour¬ 
ish ” on the part of the senatorial Richmond, but we did not 
wait for the curtain to fall. We made a stampede through the 
swinging doors and down the corridor, followed by Tom, who, 
reversing the proper order of affairs, still brandished his 
“ sword,” and shouted at the top of his voice : 

Victorious friends, the day is ours !— 

and in the five words which complete the well-known lines all 
the scholarly pages joined. 

Some of our tragic recitations were too sacred for the pro¬ 
fane eyes of “ outsiders.” Of the many solemn councils held 
by us in the President’s Room with closed doors ; or of how 
we were surprised on several occasions by the unexpected arri¬ 
val of President Grant; or how we fled through the open win¬ 
dows, retreated via the balcony and Marble Room, and ap¬ 
peared with innocent looks of wonder before the enraged group 
vainly trying to unlock the door, with the dead-latch down on 
the other side, I need not speak. These were trivial matters, 
although the President himself and Captain Bassett did not 
seem to take them as philosophically as we did. Few things 
could disturb our equanimity. 

But, of course, we did not confine our acting to secret ves¬ 
tibules and dungeons. Our energy demanded still higher and 


EXTRA VAGANZA. 


8 


more public stages of action ; and even as the Senate throws 
aside its frigid dignity at night sessions, and everybody does 
about as he pleases, we also often found it impossible to curb 
our desire for a little more freedom of action than the rules al¬ 
lowed. 

One of our favorite performances, in the comedy line, was 
to caricature the proceedings of the Senate. Frequently upon 
finishing our filing, in the morning, as we would have nothing 
else to do, one of us would take the Vice-President’s chair and 
call the “Senate” to order in right parliamentary fashion. 
The proceedings of such a session were sometimes eccentric, 
although conducted strictly according to the rules of Congres¬ 
sional procedure ; for the pages of my day had really a good 
knowledge of parliamentary law. 

Most of our sessions were characterized by scenes of disor¬ 
der that, as one member of our little company disrespectfully 
remarked, “ were worthy of the Lower House.” In fact, they 
almost invariably broke up amid the wildest confusion—gener¬ 
ally, however, because we ran them too near the hour for the 
assembling of the real law-makers, and were forced to decamp. 
Senators, Representatives, House and Supreme Court pages, 
and other “ stragglers ” would come in during our debates, 
listen spell-bound to our wonderful oratory and keen logic, and 
admire the aptitude shown by our presiding officer in applying 
the rules of the Senate. 

It was usual for us to parody the actual debates of Congress, 
and we would often take up copies of the Globe of the preced¬ 
ing day, distributed on the desks of Senators, and follow the 
order of events there reported, with “ variations ” and other 
“improvements ” in language and gestures. As it would be 
unfair to omit so historic a matter as a session for debate by 
these make-believe law-makers, I will give you a brief and mild 
specimen, and you may judge for yourselves in what respects 
6 


82 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


such a “ Senate ” resembled or differed from its great proto¬ 
type. 

A MOCK SENATE, AS HELD BY THE PAGES. 

(Actual names are used because of the senatorial seats occupied by the 
pages. The Senators with whose names this liberty is taken should not 
bear improper odium on that account. The bracket-remarks are such 
as might be used by official reporters.) 

Tom (assuming the chair , and giving a loud rap with the gavel ) : 
The Senate will come to order, and the Secretary will read the journal of 
yesterday’s proceedings. 

Dick (acting as Secretary, readmg solemjily ) : “ ’Twas brillig, and the 
slithy toves did gyre and gim-” 

Harry (risingfrom the seat of Senator Simon Cameron)'. Mr. Presi¬ 
dent. 

The Vice-President (Tom, of course) : The Senator from Pennsyl¬ 
vania. 

Senator Cameron (Harry): I move that the reading of the journal 
be dispensed with. 

The Vice-President : The Senator from Pennsylvania moves that 
the reading of the journal be dispensed with. Is there objection? [After 
a pause :] The Chair hears none. The Chair will lay before the Senate a 
communication from the King of the Fiji Islands. 

George (from the place of Senator Carpenter) : I move that it be 
thrown into the waste-basket. 

(Motion carried.) 

Senator X. (Fred) (standing in the aisle) : Mr. President. 

The Vice-President : The Senator from Nowhere. [Applause.] 

Senator X. : Mr. President, I rise to a question of privilege. In 
yesterday’s Coyote, a sheet that pretends to be a journal for the dissemina¬ 
tion of news, there is an article seriously attacking my reputation, accusing 
me of bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors. Ordinarily I 
would take no notice of such a thing, but as everybody seems to believe it 
[Voices : “ We do, we do / ” “ Isn't it true t ” etc.], I consider that I owe 
it to this body, of which I have the honor to be a member, to ask for the 
appointment of a special Committee of Investigation. 

Senator Hamlin (Bob) : I suggest that the matter lie on the table 
for the present. The House of Representatives has consumed nearly all 


EXTRA VAGANZA. 


83 


the levenues of the country for investigating purposes, and I wish to find 
out whether there is enough money left in the Treasury to meet this pro¬ 
posed expense. [A voice : “ Raise the Tariff! ”] I think, however, that 
the reporter who inserted the article should be excluded from the privileges 
of the gallery. 

Senator X. (Fred) : I am willing that the matter go over until to¬ 
morrow. [A general sigh of relief. Voice : “ You'll never hear of that 
again ! ”J 

Vice-President (Tom) ( striking with his gavel) : The morning 
hour having expired, the Chair lays before the Senate the unfinished busi¬ 
ness of yesterday. [ The “Clerk” reads the title of a bill to appropriate a 
million dollars for the purchase of the North Pole.\ 

Joe, as Senator Edmunds, is recognized by the Chair as having had 
the floor when the Senate adjourned the previous day. 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) : Mr. President, when the Senate adjourned 

yesterday I was speaking of-[Several voices : “ Oh , we remember 

where you left off .” The Mock-Senator fays no heed to the interruption .J— 

the sacred trust reposed in us as the guardians of the public funds- 

Senator Scott (Will—Harry’s colleague) : Will the Senator from 
Vermont permit me to ask him a question? 

The Vice-President (Tom) : Does the Senator from Vermont yield 
to the Senator from Pennsylvania ? 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) : No ; I cannot be disturbed. \To Senator 
Scott (Will) :] You made your speech yesterday. Now, let me make 
mine. 

Senator Scott (Will) : I would like to ask you if- 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) {emphatically) : Will you hush !—[ Loud 
laughter and applause. The Senator continues, after restoration of order :] 

—and of the integrity and fidelity with which we should exercise that- 

Senator Bayard (Jack) : Before the Senator leaves that branch of the 
subject I would like to ask him if he was not convicted of stealing from a 
sutler’s wagon during the War of 1812. [Great confusion.] 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) {coolly, but with cutting irony): Very likely ; 
I was born in 1858 ! [Laughter and applause.] 

Senator Bayard (Jack) : I meant no discourtesy. I merely asked 
for information. [Renewed laughter.] 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) : Mr. President, I yield to my friend, the 
Senator from Nowhere [Fred], as he is under an important engagement to 
attend a base-ball match this afternoon. 



84 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Senator X. (the versatile Fred) having the floor,proceeds quietly to rub 
the intellectual part of his head with his handkerchief, brushes back his 
hair, adjusts his cravat, coughs, stretches his arms as if prepared for a 
“set speech," and at length begins: Mr. President—Mr. President—Mr. 
President—ahem!—achoo !—this here [hits the desk \—this question am 
one- 

Senator Carpenter (George) : Mr. President, I rise to a parliament¬ 
ary inquiry ! 

The Vice-President (Tom) : The Senator will state it. 

Senator Carpenter (George) : I wish to ask if the Senator can mas¬ 
sacre the English language with impunity. 

The Vice-President (Tom) : Certainly. He not only can, but does ! 
\Hands to the Clerk U S. Constitution. Clerk reads Art. I., Stc. VI., Cl. 
>•] 

Senator Carpenter : But under the second clause of the preceding 
section we have authority to control such matters by a rule. 

The Vice-President : There is no rule on the subject. 

Senator Carpenter (taking his seat with a crestfallen air) : Well, 
there ought to be. It should be made a penitentiary offence. 

The Vice-President : The Senator from Nowhere will proceed. 

Senator X. (Fred) : I congratulate the Senator from Wisconsin for his 
welcome suggest. I was hasty. I oughter know’d better. I will suspect 
the proprietaries of debate and be more carefuller in futurio. [Cries of 
“ Keep to English .” “ Please let some kind of language be left."] Now, 

then, what were I saying when I left off ?—[Prompted by a friend.] —Oh, 
yes. This question is one [Voice : “ No, it isn’t / It are two ! ”J who is 
likely to give large unsatisfaction to the sovereignty populace. [Sfniles, as 
if he had produced a fine burst of eloquence. Waits for applause. It does 
not come. Appears dejected. Face suddenly lights up, as with a happy 
thought. Strikes the desk, waves his arms wildly about like those of a 
windmill, and yells :] Public extravergance, Mr. President —(another 
slap )—public (thump) and private (thump) extravergance (heavy thump) 
caused the downfall of—of— [refers to a paper] of Rome [thump / thump / /] 

—Page, bring me Gibbon’s History -. I will pass that portion of my 

remarks, Mr. President, for the present, until I have got the volume. 
Again, as the Senator from Vermont so haply said, what is our responsi¬ 
bilities as legislaters ? Now, that there last idea [Voice : 11 Do you call 
that an idea ? ”] digests another. The provisoes of our glorious Constitu¬ 
tion is too broad ! [Strikes a pile of papers and sends several of them into 


ges as Mock-Senators, 


















































































































































































EXTRA VA GANZA. 


85 


the face of his neighbor. Leans over his desk to apologize and knocks off a 
volume upon the head of the Mock-Senator in front. Applause and cries 
of “ Bravo /” “ Encore! ” etc.] It’s unwise for to have this unlimitless 
power over the public funds. There oughter to be some restrict put upon 
it, so as in order to prevent extravergance, and that there can’t be no in¬ 
advantage taken ! [ Applause by an attentive rural constituent in the gallery, 
who thinks it is the Senate itself in session.] 

The Vice-President (Tom) [rapping with his gavel and speaking 
fercely] : The Chair desires to admonish those occupying seats in the 
galleries against further demonstrations. [ Rural constituent gets scared 
and goes out. Other folks laugh at this; Vice-President continues to rap.] 

Senator X.: Now, then,- 

The Vice-President (Tom) \still rapping] : The Senator will sus¬ 
pend until order is restored. [Rap / rap ! / rap ///- Here , two ge 7 iuine 

Senators enter , and pause to “ take in the situation.”] Gentlemen in the 
rear of the seats will please be seated. [Rap ! rap / rap /] The Chair re¬ 
quests Senators to take their seats. [Rap ! rap ! !—After a pause .•] The 
Senator from Nowhere will proceed. 

Senator X. (Fred) : Mr. President, from the way things are going and 
the way things have went, we will soon be like unto Rome, and I shall now 
read from Gibbon, as the volume are here. [Opens a book and is about to 
read.] 

Several Mock-Senators [jumping to their feet and simultaneously 
exclaiming] : Mr. President, I rise to a point of order. 

Vice-President [ recognizing Senator Edmunds (Joe)] : The Senator 
from Vermont will state his point of order. 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) : My point of order is that the Senator from 
Nowhere is out of order. He must speak to the bill. We cannot waste 
our valuable time in listening to such trash. 

The Vice-President (Tom) : The Senator is himself out of order. 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) : No, I’m not! {Excitement.] 

The Vice-President (Tom) : I tell you, you are ! and I wont be an¬ 
swered back either ! [ Increased excitement.] 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) [meekly] : Well, why am I ? 

The Vice-President (Tom) [recovering his dignity] : For using un¬ 
parliamentary language. [Cries of “Let the words be taken down,” 
“ Make him apologize ,” etc.] 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) : Well, I ask for a ruling on my point. 

The Vice-President (Tom): The point of order raised by the Sena- 



86 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


tor is well taken. The Senator from Nowhere will proceed in order and 
confine his remarks to the subject under consideration. 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) : Does the Chair sustain my point of order ? 

The Vice-President : The point of order is sustained. 

Senator Edmunds (Joe) : I appeal from the decision of the Chair. 

[Great uproar , cries of “ Are you crazy ?” A Supreme Court page 
sticks his head through the door and shouts out a disrespectful remark. 
Terrific hubbub , cries renewed: “ Turn the rascal out! ” Supreme Court 
Page ejected .] 

Senator X. (Fred) : Mr. President, are it in order to move that the 
Senator from Vermont be lynched ? [Cries of “ Treason! ”] 

The Vice-President : It is not. 

Senator X.: Then I make that motion. [Renewed uproar , and gen¬ 
eral confusion .] 

Vice-President (Tom) [rapping and shouting\ : The Chair wishes 
to remind Senators that this is not the House of Representatives ! [In¬ 
stantaneous silence.] 

Senator Carpenter (George) : As it is manifest that the Senate is 
not in a mood to listen to my friend from Nowhere, I ask that he yield for 
a motion to go into executive session. 

SENATOR X. : Not by any means ! I intend to finish this speech ! 
[Cries of “ Go on ! Hear / hear ! ”] 

The Vice-President : The Senator from Wisconsin moves that the 
Senate do now proceed to the consideration of executive business. Those 
in favor of that motion will say ‘ 1 aye ” [shrieks] ; those opposed will say 
“no” [louder shrieks ] : the “ayes” have it. The Sergeant-at-Arms will 
clear the galleries and close the doors. 

[One of the Mock-Senators converts himself into the Sergeant-at-Arms , 
and moves about as if requesting people to leave the Chamber. Senator X. 
screams that /^Vice-President had no right to “ entertain any motion ” 
while he had the floor. The Vice-President says he understood the 
Senator to yield, and suggests that the Senator hereafter get an “ interpre¬ 
ter ” to explain his peculiar jargon. This provokes the orator's wrath.] 

Senator X. (Fred) : I propose to be heard on this bill! Pll not be 
gagged ! I want to say that I believe there isn’t any pole at the North ! I 
believe that this bill are a wasteless misuse of the people’s money! a piece 
of robbery ! a job ! [Continued excitement .] Let us spend what money 

we have on that nav- [flourishing his arms , and looking straight at 

Senator Cameron (Harry)]. 



EXTRA VAGANZA. 


37 


Senator Cameron (Harry) [indignantly] : Who’s a knave ? 

Senator X. (Fred) : Nobody. 

Senator Cameron [in an excited basso\ : What did you look this way 
for, then ? 

SENATOR X. [baritone] : I was saying - 

The Vice-President (Tom) [rapping, and in a high tenor ] : Senators 
will please address their remarks to the Chair! 

Senator Cameron (Harry) [in a shrill falsetto ] : I’ll not be insulted ! 

[The remainder of his speech is lost in the confusion, Senator X. man¬ 
ages to say something about 11 that navy of ours.” Senator Cameron (Harry) 
vociferates, and flourishes a paper-cutter as a weapon. More cries. All 
the Mock-Senators jump to their feet. Great exciteme?it! 

The hands of the clock are not far from the hour of twelve. Captain 
Bassett hears the noise , rushes in from the lobby, and walks sternly toward 
our presiding officer (Tom). 

A genuine Senator on the floor rescues the dignity of the Mock-Senate by a 
?notion to adjourn. And our presiding officer still has strength and pluck 
enough to put the question, give the table a soft blow with the gavel, and, 
amid general laughter and applause, announce an adjournment to the next 
day / Exeunt ! ] 

Soon the real Vice-President and the Chaplain appear; the 
Senate is called to order, and enters upon its dreary work; and 
the atmosphere again subsides into a lugubrious calm. 


CHAPTER X. 

COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTES. 

The secret sessions of the Senate were of common oc¬ 
currence, that body devoting more or less time nearly every 
day to the consideration of executive business. Frequently, 
upon motion of a Senator, it would go into executive session 
in the middle of the afternoon, after which the doors would 
be reopened to the public, and the Senate would resume its 
legislative business. But I had scarcely finished my inves¬ 
tigations concerning this curiosity of senatorial power and 
procedure, when I was given a chance to witness a ceremony 
and examine a subject of much greater interest and impor 
tance. 

Most boys of America have had, no doubt, one common 
experience ; benignant old folks have patted you on your re¬ 
spective domes of thought, and assuringly remarked : “ Ah, 
you'll be President of the United States yet, some day, my 
boy ! ” And many of you have probably believed, because of 
the number of old folks who have made that startling an¬ 
nouncement, that you would each be nominated by acclama¬ 
tion, and that your election, like that of the first President of 
our country, would be unanimous. Without seeking to disturb 
so pleasant a prediction, let me call your attention to certain 
facts. 

The Constitution says : 


COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTES. 


89 


No person except a natural-born citizen . . . shall be eligible to 

the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that office 
who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been four¬ 
teen years a resident within the United States. 

Under this restriction as to age, you will have some years 
to wait. * This delay will give you time to thoroughly study 
the Constitution, the history and the laws of the Republic, and 
become familiar with many public questions about which a 
President ought to know. 

When the people choose their President, they choose also 
their Vice-President. The President might suddenly die or be¬ 
come disabled from performing his duties, and in that case 
there should be someone ready to take his place. As the Vice- 
President is chosen to meet this possible emergency, he should 
be as wise and as good a man as the person chosen President. 
Hence it is that the Constitution provides : 

No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be 
eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 

Such are the necessary qualifications of the President and 
Vice-President. The manner in which those officers are elected 
is not so easy to comprehend. Indeed, it is rather bewildering. 
Here is what the Constitution says upon the subject : 

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may 
direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and 
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. . . . 

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for 
President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an in¬ 
habitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in their bal¬ 
lots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all per¬ 
sons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and 


9 o 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted. The person 
having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed ; 
and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the 
highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as 
President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by 
ballot, the President. . . . The person having the greatest number of 

votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have 
a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall 
choose the Vice-President. 

The Constitution having thus defined the general course to 
be pursued, gives to Congress and the legislatures of the States 
the power to regulate certain details. 

Congress, accordingly, has by statute declared that the 
Electors ‘ 4 shall be appointed on the Tuesday next after the first 
Monday in November, in every fourth year succeeding every 
election of a President and Vice-President,” which is the same 
day of the year on which Congressional elections are held in 
all of the States. 

The statutory provisions of the various States as to the way 
in which the Electors shall be appointed are not uniform in all 
respects ; but we may say, generally, that the Electors for each 
State are chosen by the people of the State in the same way 
that a Representative is chosen by the people of a Congres¬ 
sional District. That is, each voter in a State may go to the 
polls on “ Presidential election-day,” and cast a ballot for as 
many persons, to act as Electors, as the State is entitled to ap¬ 
point. The persons, to the number required to be chosen, re¬ 
ceiving the highest number of votes, become the Presidential 
Electors for the State. 


COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTES. 


91 


The Electors of all the States, having been duly chosen by 
the people, constitute what is styled the “ College of Electors,” 
and it is then their duty (and I need not worry you by stating 
the various enactments of Congress and the State legislatures 
which define exactly what they shall do) to meet on the first 
Wednesday in December following their election, in their re¬ 
spective States, vote by ballot for President and Vice-President 
as directed in the Constitution, and forward to the President 
of the Senate, at Washington, certificates of all the votes given 
by them. 

The Electors having done their duty, it remains for Congress 
to finish the task, and, with this in view, the Federal law¬ 
makers have enacted that both Houses of Congress shall be in 
session on the second Wednesday of the February following 
these other performances, for the purpose of counting the elec¬ 
toral votes pursuant to the Constitution. Here all legislation on 
the subject ends. 

This system of the indirect election of President and Vice- 
President has descended to us from the early days of the Repub¬ 
lic, when the country was in its infancy and the population but 
a small fraction of its present size. Though the individual citi¬ 
zen does in effect vote for President and Vice-President when 
he casts his vote for the electoral ticket, the plan by which 
those Electors are themselves elected, and by which they, too, 
go through the show of a Presidential election before the final 
ceremony of an official canvass of the votes in Congress, is 
complicated, roundabout, and awkward. It would be much 
better, and altogether simpler, for the people to choose these 
high officers of Government directly, without the clumsy con¬ 
trivance of the Electoral College. When you become law¬ 
makers of the country, I shall expect to see the Constitution 
amended in this respect. At any rate, please give the matter 
your thoughtful consideration. 


92 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


I have said that “ here all legislation on the subject ends.’' 
This statement is not only true, but deplorable. Beyond the 
law that both Houses of Congress shall be in session on a par¬ 
ticular day for the purpose of counting the votes, there is no 
provision except the brief and vague commandment of the Con¬ 
stitution that “the President of the Senate shall, in the pres¬ 
ence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
certificates and the votes shall then be counted .” How and by 
whom shall the votes be counted ? At this time nobody knows. 
The Constitution does not say, and Congress has not declared. 
Are we to suppose that the Constitution intended that the 
~ President of the Senate should do the counting ? Hardly. It 
is pretty well settled that he is intended for ornament. His 
duties, such as they are, are not robust—simply to knock with 
the gavel and preserve order, and give the electoral envelopes 
the “ constitutional rip.” Further than this, his power and 
his glory abide in a state of expectancy—he has little to do but 
to wait, with patience and serenity, for the President of the 
United States to be good enough to die and leave to him the 
mantle of executive authority. 

Twice, in the history of our Government, the people have 
been plunged into intense excitement, and the peace of the coun¬ 
try has been imperilled, by the absence of proper provisions in 
regard to the election of President—once in 1801, and again in 
1877. The lesson of 1801 resulted in the Twelfth Amendment 
to the Constitution, which took effect in 1804, designed to pre¬ 
vent a recurrence of the danger. The warning of 1877 apparently 
went unheeded, for while Congress, by a temporary and doubt¬ 
ful expedient, styled the “ Electoral Commission,” managed to 
lift the country out of the peril in which it was at that time 
placed, it has provided no guard, although ten years have 
passed, against a similar jeopardy, and perhaps catastrophe, in 
the future. Which shows that the law-makers who lived in the 


COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTES. 93 

early part of the century were, in some respects at least, almost 
as patriotic as are those who flourish now. 

In 1873, however, there was a provision as to how the elec¬ 
toral votes should be counted. It was what was known as the 
“ Twenty-second Joint Rule ” of the two Houses of Congress, 
and provided that the two Houses should assemble in the Hall 
of the House of Representatives at the hour of one o’clock P.M., 
on the second Wednesday in February, and also provided the 
course of proceeding when so assembled. 

As the terms of President Grant and Vice-President Colfax 
were constitutionally doomed to expire on March 4, 1873, Elec¬ 
tors had been duly chosen by the votes of the people in the month 
of November, 1872, and these Electors had met and voted for a 
President and Vice-President of the United States for the suc¬ 
ceeding period of four years, and the sealed certificates had 
been forwarded to Washington. Accordingly, on the second 
Wednesday (the 12th) of February, the certificates were to be 
opened and the counting of the electoral votes was to occur. 
When the day arrived, the Senate met at its usual hour and be¬ 
gan to transact ordinary legislative business, in which no one, 
however, seemed to take much interest. The sight-seers crowd¬ 
ed the galleries of the House of Representatives, the galleries of 
the Senate being almost deserted —only such persons occupying 
them as were probably unsuccessful in obtaining admission to 
the other House. After the transaction of some unimportant 
business, Senator Pratt arose and began an elaborate speech on 
the pension laws. But everything had a holiday appearance. 
The Senators, the pages, and the other officials felt like chil¬ 
dren about to go to a picnic, and were anxious for the hour of 
one o’clock to arrive and put an end to their agony of suspense. 

Right in the midst of Senator Pratt’s speech, the Clerk of 
the House of Representatives appeared at our bar and delivered 
the following message : 


94 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


“ Mr, President : I am directed to inform the Senate that 
the House of Representatives is now ready to receive the Sen¬ 
ate, for the purpose of proceeding to open and count the votes 
of the Electors of the several States for President and Vice- 
President of the United States.” 

Shortly afterward, the hour of one o’clock having arrived, 
the Vice-President said : 

“ The Senate, preceded by the Sergeant-at-Arms, will now 
repair ,to the Hall of the House of Representatives.” 

Thereupon Mr. French, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, 
left his chair and walked toward the main door leading to the 
House, followed by the Vice-President and Secretary. Then the 
Senators fell in line, two by two, and the procession began to 
move. Certain other officers of the Senate joined the ranks, and 
as nothing would be regular or complete, according to our no¬ 
tions, without the presence and co-operation of the pages, we 
went along as a matter of course, sandwiching ourselves in be¬ 
tween the venerable Solons wherever we could find an aperture 
wide enough to accommodate our small bodies. But the most 
conspicuous, if not the most important personage in the column, 
was Captain Bassett, the custodian of the electoral certificates. 
The patriarch of the Senate, he at all times inspired reverence ; 
on this occasion, as he slowly moved along in his dignified way, 
tightly clutching the sacred box containing the certificates (as a 
mark of especial honor, always given to him to carry), not even 
a page would have presumed or dared to so much as touch 
him. 

The line of march led us through the great rotunda of the 
Capitol, which was crowded with people who had gathered to 
see the novel and imposing sight. It was an unusually orderly 
and respectful gathering ; no one tried to grab the box, and the 
police had no difficulty in keeping the crowd at a proper dis¬ 
tance to permit the passage of the Senate. 


COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTES. 


95 


When we reached the Hall our arrival was announced by 
t 2 Doorkeeper ; and as we entered, all the Representatives 
d officers of the House rose to their feet to receive us, and 
mained standing while the Senators were being seated in the 
airs provided for them in the eastern section of the Hall near 
e Speaker’s desk. The Vice-President, as the presiding offi- 
r of the joint convention of the two Houses, took his seat in 
e Speaker’s chair—the Speaker, Hon. James G. Blaine, oc¬ 
cupying a chair on his left. Senator Sherman (who had been 
appointed by the Senate to act as a teller in counting the votes) 
and Representatives Dawes and Beck (the tellers on the part of 
the House) took their places at the Clerk’s desk, at which the Sec¬ 
retary of the Senate and Clerk of the House were also stationed. 
The pages and “ the other officers of the two Houses” estab¬ 
lished themselves (as under the terms of the Joint Rule they 
were entitled to do) “ in front of the Clerk’s desk and upon 
either side of the Speaker’s platform.” 

After the confusion on the floor and in the galleries incident 
to our entrance had somewhat subsided, the Vice-President 
rose and stated : 

“ The Senate and House of Representatives having met 
under the provisions of the Constitution for the purpose of 
opening, determining, and declaring the votes cast for Presi¬ 
dent and Vice-President of the United States for the term of 
four years commencing on the 4th of March next, and it being 
my duty, in the presence of both Houses thus convened, to 
open the votes, I now proceed to discharge that duty.” 

He then proceeded to open and hand to the tellers the votes 
f the Electors of the several States for President and Vice¬ 
resident, commencing with the State of Maine. Senator Siber¬ 
ian read in full the certificate of the votes of that State (and 
ie certificate of the Governor as to the election of the Electors), 
/hich were seven for Ulysses S. Grant, of Illinois, for Presi- 


9 6 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


dent, and seven for Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, for Vice- 
President. Then Mr. Dawes read the certificate of the votes of 
the State of New Hampshire, and so they continued, each teller 
reading in turn. When the votes of the State of Mississippi were 
reached, Senator Trumbull objected to their being counted, for 
the reason that the certificate did not show that the Electors of 
that State had voted “by ballot” as required by the Constitu¬ 
tion. Representative Potter also objected, on other grounds, to 
their being counted, and an objection being made by Repre¬ 
sentative Hoar to the counting of three of the electoral votes 
of Georgia, the Vice-President said : 

“ Three questions having arisen in regard to the counting of 
the votes for President and Vice-President, the Senate will now 
withdraw to their Chamber.” 

Thereupon we reorganized in procession and marched out of 
the Hall in as pompous a manner as we had entered it an hour 
before. Upon reaching the Senate-chamber, the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent called the Senators to order, and they at once began to 
discuss the objections made, the House in the meantime, as 
soon as we had retired from its Hall, having begun to do 
the same thing. After discussion, and when the Senators had 
passed resolutions setting forth their decisions upon the mat¬ 
ters, the Secretary was notified to inform the House that the 
Senate was ready to proceed with the count. In a little while 
the Clerk of the House appeared and stated that the House had 
also reached a conclusion ; whereupon we formed into line for 
a third time and re-entered the Hall of the House at thirty-five 
minutes past three o’clock. (I take this time-record from the 
Globe.') 

The Vice-President resumed the chair, and stated the result 
—that both Houses agreed to the counting of the electoral votes 
of the State of Mississippi, and that the same would be counted, 
but that as to the three votes of the State of Georgia there was 


























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v 




: 















a 





f 























































































































































Counting the Electoral Vote* 


























































£Mnp! 



ond Wednesday of February, 1873. 











































































































































COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTES. 97 

a disagreement between the Houses, and that therefore those 
votes would not be counted. 

The tellers again went to work, but another point of dispute 
appeared when the votes of Texas were announced. Objections 
being made, the Senate again retired in a body, reaching its 
Chamber at four o’clock and twenty-four minutes P.M. After 
discussion as before by both Houses, and a conclusion having 
been arrived at by each, in about half an hour we again, and 
for the fifth time, organized in procession and re-entered the 
Hall of the House. The Vice-President announced that both 
Houses agreed to the counting of the votes of the State of 
Texas, and the same were accordingly counted. Then the tell¬ 
ers proceeded as before until objections were made to the elec¬ 
toral votes of Louisiana and Arkansas, when we again retired 
to the Senate-chamber, and entered into a discussion lasting 
about an hour and a half. Meanwhile, the shadows of night 
had begun to creep around the building, and, while we were 
straining our eyes in the gloaming, the Chamber was illuminated 
by a sudden flash from the electric wires above. Well, we fi¬ 
nally came to a decision, and returned to the Hall (which, to¬ 
gether with the rotunda, had also been lit up) “ at seven o’clock 
and forty-five minutes P.M.,” according to the account given by 
the House reporters in the Globe. The Senate reporters, in the 
same official record, state that we did not leave the Senate- 
chamber on our return march to the House until “ seven o’clock 
and forty-six minutes P.M.” You will thus observe that, by a 
peculiar legislative magic, we arrived at the Hall just one min¬ 
ute before we actually started to go to it. 

The Vice-President stated the decision. Both Houses agree¬ 
ing to reject the votes of Louisiana, and there being a disagree¬ 
ment as to the votes of Arkansas, the electoral votes of the two 
States were not counted. All the certificates having been opened, 
the tellers were instructed by the Vice-President to announce the 
7 


98 


AMONG THE LAIV-MAKERS. 


result of the vote. Senator Sherman complied with the direction 
of the Vice-President, reading in detail the votes as cast by the 
Electors of each State that were ordered to be counted. This 
done, the Vice-President addressed the joint convention : 

“The whole number of Electors to vote for President and 
Vice-President of the United States, as reported by the tellers, 
is 366, of which the majority is 184. Of these votes, 349 have 
been counted for President, and 352 for Vice-President of the 
United States. The result of the vote for President of the 
United States, as reported by the tellers, is, for Ulysses S. 
Grant, of Illinois, 286 votes ; for B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri, 
18 votes ; for Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, 42 votes ; for 
Charles J. Jenkins, of Georgia, 2 votes ; and for David Davis, 
of Illinois, 1 vote. The result of the vote, as reported by the 
tellers, for Vice-President of the United States is, for Henry 
Wilson, of Massachusetts, 286 votes ; for B. Gratz Brown, of 
Missouri, 47 votes ; ”—referring also to straggling votes given 
for seven other persons for Vice-President. 

“Wherefore,” continued the Vice-President, slowly and with 
great solemnity, “ I do declare that Ulysses S. Grant, of the 
State of Illinois, having received a majority of the whole num¬ 
ber of electoral votes, is duly elected President of the United 
States for four years, commencing on the 4th day of March, 
1873; and that Henry Wilson, of the State of Massachusetts, 
having received a majority of the whole number of electoral 
votes for Vice-President of the United States, is duly elected 
Vice-President of the United States, for four years, commenc¬ 
ing on the 4th day of March, 1873.” 

And, after a pause, he added : 

“ The object for which the House and Senate have assembled 
in joint convention having been accomplished, the Senate will 
retire to its Chamber.” 

Thereupon, at about eight o’clock, amid a deafening thunder 


COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTES. 


99 


of applause and uproar, we slowly left the Hall. Cheer upon 
cheer for the men thus declared elected to the highest offices in 
the gift of the Republic rent the air—cheers in which all joined, 
Senators, Representatives, officers, and spectators. It needed 
only the firing of a hundred cannon, the blare of a brass band, 
and the “swish” of a few sky-rockets, to render the demon¬ 
stration truly American. 

The Speaker resumed the chair and again called the House 
to order, but the noise was so great that business was impossi¬ 
ble, and, almost immediately, that body adjourned for the day. 
Upon returning to our deserted Chamber, a resolution was 
adopted by which Senator Sherman was appointed to join such 
committee as might be appointed by the House, to wait upon 
the gentlemen who had been elected President and Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, and inform them of their election. And then, being too 
demoralized to transact further business, at eight o’clock and 
seven minutes P.M. the Senate adjourned. 


CHAPTER XI. 


CLOSE OF A CONGRESS. 

When the Government gets its fingers around any money, 
it closes them with the grip of a giant. It goes on peacefully 
collecting millions of dollars, but not a cent will it expend un¬ 
less Congress so declare in form of law. This rule is inexor¬ 
able. No matter how just maybe the claims upon its Treasury, 
however great may be the necessity of its creditors or urgency 
of its own wants—it cannot buy a loaf of bread to keep the 
pangs of hunger from its own door. It is as helpless as a ship¬ 
wrecked millionaire floating aimlessly about in mid-ocean on a 
broken spar. All that it can do is to balance its bank account 
—and wait for help. As Congress has the sole right to say 
what money shall go into the national vaults, so it has the sole 
right to say what, if any, shall come out. It holds the purse¬ 
strings of the Treasury, and it, alone, can loosen them when it 
may see fit. 

The enormous running expenses of the Government, and 
the current obligations, such as pensions, which it has assumed, 
must therefore be provided for by Congress. This is done by 
the yearly enactment of what are styled the General Appropri¬ 
ation Bills—more than twelve in number. The Legislative, 
Executive, and Judicial Appropriation Bill relates to the pay of 
members and employes of the Congress ; of the President, and 
the officers and clerks of executive departments; of the judges 
of the Federal courts, and various incidental expenses. The 


CLOSE OF A CONGRESS. 


IOI 


Army, the Navy, the Diplomatic Service, the Indians, these 
and other subjects are each provided for by separate bills, and 
various odds and ends go into the Sundry Civil Bill. These 
laws provide for the service only during a single “ fiscal year,” 
beginning on the first day of every July, and as they cease to 
operate upon June 30th following, the failure of Congress to 
furnish these annual supplies would seriously embarrass public 
affairs. The President, the judges, the thousands of other offi¬ 
cers, civil, military, and naval—the law-makers themselves— 
would have to go without their pay, and the noble Indian 
might become nervous and unearth the hatchet ! As the Con¬ 
gressmen are not very good fortune-tellers, there is invariably 
a huge General Deficiency Bill each year to meet expenses un¬ 
provided for by the appropriation laws of the preceding year, 
and, to provide for needs of the service requiring immediate at¬ 
tention, it is often necessary to pass an Urgent Deficiency Bill 
which goes into effect at once upon its passage, thus rendering 
the funds appropriated by it immediately available. 

On account of the importance of these bills, they are given 
precedence over all other measures as matters of privilege, and 
from the time they are reported by the House committees 
which attend to their preparation,* they absorb the attention of 
each body almost daily during the remainder of the session. 
When the last appropriation bill is passed and out of the way, 
and the Government is thereby enabled to support itself for 
the coming year, the average Congressman thinks it time to 
go home, and so Congress generally then adjourns, often to 
the serious neglect of other matters of moment pending in 

*The House, with the acquiescence of the Senate, has long exercised the right to 
originate these bills. A spirited contest, growing out of the deadlock on the Naval 
Bill, has been recently (1884-85) waged between the two bodies of Congress respecting 
this usage, or right. The House now claims that it is a constitutional power, conferred 
by the provision as to “ revenue ” measures, and that the inclination of the Senate to 
introduce appropriation bills is unmitigated usurpation. 


102 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


eithe/ House. This remark applies only to the long sessions 
of Congress, for the short sessions must end on March 4th, and 
are so very brief that even the appropriation bills sometimes 
suffer in the rush and hurry of legislation.* Much as some 
law makers like to talk, they must look for a more favorable 
opportunity than when an appropriation bill is under consider¬ 
ation, for then, to economize time, the five-minute rule and 
other provisions limiting debate are rigorously enforced in each 
House. 

As the Forty-second Congress was to terminate on March 
4, 1873, both Houses became very industrious after the count¬ 
ing of the electoral votes in February. When the general ap¬ 
propriation bills were not under consideration, each House oc¬ 
cupied itself much of the time with the calendar ; f and private 
and various classes of unobjectionable bills were passed by the 
wholesale, as rapidly as the Clerk could read them and the pre¬ 
siding officer could put the necessary formal questions. 

And I may here tell you another interesting fact, explain¬ 
ing the cause of all this haste. When a Congress expires on a 
fourth of March, all the bills and other matters left undisposed 
of become absolutely dead. The next Congress enters upon 
its work of legislation with a new and clear record and with 
hands quite free ; old bills must either stay dead, or be re-in¬ 
troduced and go through the customary stages of examination 
in order to become laws. Some people know this to their sor¬ 
row. I still recognize bills that have been in Congress for 
years. Some of them would pass one House and get through 

* So great has grown the evil of hasty legislation, that thinking men realize that both 
the long and the short sessions of Congress should be extended, by fixing the time of 
meeting earlier than December, and a bill to achieve this purpose was recently intro¬ 
duced in the Senate and is now pending. 

t The “ calendar ” is a list of measures ready for action, upon which, unless other¬ 
wise ordered, bills and resolutions are placed, when properly reported, to be taken up 
and considered in their order. 


CLOSE OF A CONGRESS. 


103 


the other just on the eve of the dissolution of a Congress, but 
too late to get the approval of the President ; and they would 
have to begin over again in the next Congress, and probably 
not be able to do more than pass one House. To expedite 
legislation, the President always went to the Capitol during 
the closing hours of a session, accompanied by his Cabinet, pri¬ 
vate secretary and clerks, occupying a room set apart for his 
use near the Senate-chamber. As fast as Acts of Congress were 
submitted to him, he considered them, and his private secretary 
notified the House or the Senate of his action concerning them, 
thus saving much time. 

Well, as I have said, we were in the dying days of a Con¬ 
gress, and that you may form an idea of the labor of the Senate 
at that period, I will give you a few statistics upon the subject. 

Let us begin with the last week in February of that year. 
The Senate met at eleven o’clock on the morning of Monday, 
the twenty-fourth of that month. It remained in session until 
five o’clock in the afternoon, when a recess was taken until 
seven o’clock. After re-assembling, it sat until forty-six min¬ 
utes after eleven o’clock at night. (Nearly eleven hours of ac¬ 
tual work.) The Senators evidently obtained a tolerably good 
night’s rest, for they were again on hand at eleven o’clock, 
Tuesday morning, ready for business. They sat until five, took 
a recess for two hours, adjourning at fifty-five minutes past ten. 
(About ten hours of work.) On Wednesday, the twenty-sixth, 
they assembled at eleven, took a recess from five to seven, and 
adjourned at twenty-four minutes after twelve o’clock. (Eleven 
hours and a half of work.) Thursday, the Senate again con¬ 
vened at eleven, took the usual recess, and continued in session 
all night long, adjourning at fifty-five minutes past seven o’clock, 
Friday morning, to meet at one o’clock the same day. (A ses¬ 
sion of eighteen hours and three-quarters, not counting the re¬ 
cess.) It met at one o’clock on Friday afternoon, took a recess 


104 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


at five o’clock for only half an hour, adjourning at twenty 
minutes past one o’clock at night. (About thirteen hours of 
severe mental application.) On Saturday, March 1st, it met 
at eleven o’clock, at five a recess was taken until seven in the 
evening, at seven it re-assembled and remained in session until 
twenty minutes past four o’clock Sunday morning, when it took 
another recess until seven o’clock that evening. Many of the 
Senators were opposed to sitting on Sunday but the majority 
considered it absolutely necessary. So, at seven o’clock (when 
the pages would otherwise have been preparing to go to even¬ 
ing church), they were again called to order, continuing their 
deliberations until fifteen minutes after twelve o’clock Monday 
morning, March 3d, adjourning to meet again that morning at 
ten o’clock instead of eleven. These twenty hours and thirty- 
five minutes of work, although made up of parts of three dif¬ 
ferent days, all belonged to the session of Saturday. This ses¬ 
sion constituted a “legislative” day, and you thus see that a 
legislative day may really consume several of our ordinary days. 
It is rather confusing to talk of the proceedings of Monday 
morning, March 3d, as the proceedings of Saturday, March 
1st, but that is the way it appears in the record. 

Well, at ten o’clock on Monday, March 3d, the Senate 
began its last day’s session, that was destined to contain nine¬ 
teen hours and a half of solid labor. At five o’clock a recess 
was taken until seven. Upon re-assembling, all were indeed 
kept busy. The members of the House were working equally 
hard in the passage of bills, the Clerk of that body appearing 
in the Senate every few minutes with a large roll of paper and 
parchment, and announcing its progress in the business of mak¬ 
ing laws. No one slept that night. Each moment was pre¬ 
cious, nearly every Senator struggling with might and main to 
secure the consideration of this or that bill in which his constit¬ 
uents were interested. Thus it continued all night, and at 


CLOSE OF A CONGRESS .. 105 

five o’clock on the morning of Tuesday, March 4th, we took a 
recess for four hours and a half. 

When we re-assembled, it seemed as if a magician had been 
at work in our absence. The Senate-chamber was filled with 
chairs, one being placed wherever there was space to hold it. A 
stream of humanity was applying for admission to the building, 
the doors of which were closed and guarded by officers. Finally, 
when the doors were opened, and those who had printed passes 
were allowed to enter, the crowd was so great that the galler¬ 
ies overflowed and the corridors became packed with people. 
Evidently, something unusual was about to happen. 

But the proceedings of the Senate went on as busily as 
ever, although we had to wait a few minutes for a quorum of 
Senators to appear. Some of them had become exhausted and 
had probably overslept themselves. 

Very soon, distinguished officers of the Army and Navy, in 
full uniform, began to drop in quietly and take seats in the rear 
of the Senators’ desks. At about half-past eleven o’clock, 
Captain Bassett announced the arrival of the Diplomatic Corps, 
and a long line of foreign ambassadors filed in, headed by 
Blacque Bey, the Turkish Minister, and “ dean,” or senior 
member, of the Corps. They were assigned to seats on the 
Democratic side of the Chamber. They were all in court dress 
—dark-colored trousers with gold bands down the outer seams ; 
coats glittering with bright buttons, lace, and gold trimmings, 
each ambassador wearing a military hat, and a small straight 
sword like those worn by men of the upper ranks a century ago. 
Shortly afterward, in walked the Chief Justice and the Associate 
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, in their 
sombre magisterial robes. 

Meanwhile, there were goings-on outside of the Capitol 
that would have interested my young readers. A monster 
procession was advancing like a conquering army. There 


106 AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 

were soldiers on horseback and soldiers on foot—artillery, 
cavalry, and infantry; horses dragging huge cannon, and 
horses dragging huge fire-engines ; carriages containing men 
in uniform, and carriages containing men in citizens’ attire; a 
platoon of mounted police, and a battalion of marines who 
walked ; large bodies of men belonging to State militia, and 
large bodies of men belonging to civic and secret organizations 
—with and without the paraphernalia of their orders ; cadets 
from the Military Academy at West Point, and cadets from the 
Naval Academy at Annapolis—the former dressed in gray, 
the latter in blue ; and at distances of every one or two hundred 
feet were brass-bands :—all forming one mass that filled the 
wide thoroughfare of Pennsylvania Avenue—with flags and 
banners all around, raised aloft by people in the procession, 
and floating from the windows and tops of houses ; the air 
vocal with martial music, each band braying a different tune at 
the same time ; and from every direction, on the sidewalks, ac¬ 
companying this procession, on intersecting streets, and on all 
the avenues centering at the building, came thousands and 
thousands of human beings—men, women, and children ;— 
while everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, were boys, 
boys, boys, of all sizes and colors, “ some in rags, some in tags, 
and some in velvet gowns.” All marching toward the Capitol! 

To return to the Senate. In the course of its proceed¬ 
ings, one of the Senators, according to custom, offered a reso¬ 
lution, which was unanimously adopted, tendering thanks to 
Vice-President Colfax for the manner in which, during four 
years, he had discharged his duties as presiding officer of the 
Senate. As this resolution was read by the Clerk, a feeling of 
sadness swept over us all at the thought that soon the terms of 
many of the Senators would expire, and that we would have to 
part with some of them—perhaps forever. 

But we were too busy to stay sad. Another resolution was 


CLOSE OF A CONGRESS. 


107 


offered and adopted, by which Senators Conkling and Trumbull 
were appointed a committee to join a similar committee of the 
House to wait upon the President of the United States, and in¬ 
form him that, unless he had some further communication to 
make, the two Houses of Congress, having finished the business 
before them, were ready to adjourn. Considerable business was 
done, however, after the appointment of the committee. Fi¬ 
nally it returned, and Senator Conkling stated that, having 
called upon the President, the committee had been informed by 
him that he had no further communication to make. 

After the lapse of a few minutes, Vice-President Colfax arose, 
and, stating that the hour had arrived for the dissolution of the 
Forty-second Congress, proceeded, with considerable emotion, 
to deliver a farewell address to the Senate. During the delivery 
of this address, the hands of the clock reached the hour of twelve. 
Captain Bassett went to it and, mounting a ladder, turned back 
the longer hand a few minutes. This was a harmless trick that 
I have often since seen played, the minute-hand being some¬ 
times set back as much as half an hour. The Senators and the 
Vice-President always look innocently some other way while it 
is being done, as if unconscious of the act. But everyone else 
smiles at this subterfuge to gain time, and I think the Senators 
themselves smile inwardly. 

Continuing his speech for a short while, the Vice-President 
concluded : 

“ But the clock admonishes me that the Forty-second Con¬ 
gress has already passed with history ; and wishing you, Sena¬ 
tors, useful lives for your country and happy lives for yourselves, 
and thanking you for the resolution spread on your Journal, and 
invoking the favor of Him who holds th** de c tinies c f nation^ and 
of men in the holloa 
oath of office to th 
duce.” 


io8 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Vice-President-elect Wilson at once came forward, amid a 
burst of applause, and from the Secretary’s desk made a brief 
address ; and the oath of office was administered to him by the 
retiring Vice-President, who then, in a firm and clear voice, said : 

“The time for the expiration of the Forty-second Congress 
having arrived, I declare the Senate of the United States ad¬ 
journed sine die." # 

Whereupon he gave a sharp knock with the gavel and de¬ 
scended from the chair. With the sound of the gavel, his power 
as Vice-President of the United States vanished into air ; but 
before the echo died away, Vice-President Wilson had ascended 
the steps and seized the gavel, and, dealing the desk a vigorous 
blow, he exclaimed : “ The Senate will come to order ! " 

And the instant that elapsed between the two descents of 
that little piece of ivory, marked the death of one Congress and 
the birth of another ! 


* " Wu, t day ”—that is, without naming a definite day for re-assembling. Every 
Congress, by constitutional limitation, must come to an end on the 4th of March ; but 
these words are used upon the final adjournment of every session of either body, in 
which case it is understood that the body will re-assemble on the first Monday of the 
following December unless sooner convened by proclamation of the President. The 
House, for instance, did not meet again that year until December. The Senate im¬ 
mediately entered on a special session , having been convened by a proclamation of Presi¬ 
dent Grant. 


CHAPTER XII. 


AN INAUGURATION. 

Vice-President Wilson, having taken the chair, directed the 
Secretary to read the proclamation of the President convening 
a special session of the Senate. As you may wish to know 
what the proclamation looked like, I shall give it here in full : 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas objects of interest to the United States require that the Sen¬ 
ate should be convened at twelve o’clock on the fourth of % next, to 
receive and act upon such con 
part of the Executive : 

Now, therefore, I, Ulysse 
have considered it to be my dl 
that an extraordinary occasior 
convene for the transaction of 
ington, on the fourth day of I 

day, of which all who shall ai i to act as member^ <6f 

that body are hereby require* # take notice. 

Given under my hand a: • i 

ton, the twenty-first day of February, in the year of urn one thousand 

eight hundred and seventy-three, and of the Independence of the United 
States of America the ninety-seventh. 

[Great seal of the United States.] 

By the President : IL S. Grant. 

Hamilton Fish, 

Secretary of State. 

The Secretary then read the names of the newly-elected Sena¬ 
tors_eight of the old members being re-elected, and fifteen of 



io 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


the incomers being new members. As their names were called, 
those who were present advanced to the Vice-President’s desk, 
where the oaths of office were administered to them. After the 
swearing-in, the roll of the Senate was called, and it appeared 
that sixty-four Senators were in attendance. 

Here the arrival of the President of the United States 
was announced, and, escorted by Senators Cragin, Logan, and 
Bayard, of the Committee on Arrangements, he was shown to 
a seat immediately in front of the Secretary’s desk, the mem¬ 
bers of the committee being seated on either side. His Cabi¬ 
net followed and took seats near by, facing the Vice-President. 
As this party entered, scores of prominent officials and guests 
swarmed into the room. The House of Representatives had ad¬ 
journed sine die at twelve o’clock. The members of that House, 
and many of those elected to the next, added to the throng, the 
chairs were rapidly filled, and many persons were obliged to stand. 

A procession was then ordered by the Vice-President to 
form as follows: 

The Marshal of the Supreme Court. 

Ex-Presidents and ex-Vice-Presidents. 

The Supreme Court of the United States. 

The Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate. 

The Committee of Arrangements. 

The Preside^ ^ fhe United States, the President-elect.* 

The Vice-President and the Secretary of the Senate. 

The members of the Senate. 

The Diplomatic Corps. 

Members of the Cabinet and the Solicitor-General. 

Ex-members of the House of Representatives, and mem- 
bers-elect of the Forty-third Congress. 

* As President Grant had been re-elected, the “ President of the United States ” and 
the “ President-elect ’’were, at the ceremony which I am describing, one and the same 
individual. 


AN INAUGURATION. 


Ill 


Governors of States. 

Officers of the Army and Navy. 

Other persons admitted to the floor of the Senate-chamber 
and to the reserved seats at the left of the Diplomatic Gallery. 

The column soon began to move, and would have been 
truly formidable in its appearance—with so many law-makers 
and dignitaries of the Government, not to speak of the sworded 
diplomats, and the officers of the Army and Navy—had it not 
been for the ladies who joined it. Their presence, in gay 
creations of fashion, and their laughter and talking, utterly 
prevented that impressive and ferocious effect which I had 
hoped to see produced, and to increase which I had joined the 
ranks, enveloped in wrappings that completely concealed all of 
me except my two eyes. 

Reaching the rotunda, we turned to the left and proceeded 
to the platform erected over the east and central steps of the 
Capitol. And there before our view was the mass that had 
been congregating during the morning—the cannon and fire- 
engines, horses, flags, and banners, jumbled together, in grand 
confusion, with the soldiers and citizens. 

Advancing to the front of the platform, General Grant, with 
uncovered head, began to read an address. I do not suppose 
one person in a hundred on the stand heard a word he said. I 
managed —how I cannot say—to get a position within a few 
feet of the speaker, and yet heard very little of his speech. 
What, then, could have interested that vast concourse assem¬ 
bled there, braving the inclement weather, and beyond the 
sound of the speaker’s voice ? Perched in the trees in the op¬ 
posite park, like squirrels and monkeys, were the boys— “ the 
woods were full of them.” That was all right, for I would have 
been there myself had I not been on the grand stand. The 
actions of small boys, as you know, do not require, indeed 
do not permit explanation ; they are sometimes incomprehen- 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


112 

sible even to the boys themselves. I could understand why 
the soldiers were there, because they had probably been 
ordered to be there, and had obeyed the demands of military 
duty. The cannon, flags, and other inanimate and irresponsi¬ 
ble things were, of course, not to be criticised. But I won¬ 
dered what it was that had brought out so many old and young 
men—American citizens—not to speak of the women. It was 
a bitter cold day, the piercing wind every now and then hurl¬ 
ing into their faces clouds of dust. Yet there they had stood 
patiently waiting for hours, regardless of the cold, each wedged 
fast in the surging, suffocating crowd, treading on one another’s 
feet, jostling one another’s elbows, and enduring pain generally. 
What could have been their motive ? Surely not to hear. Was 
it to see—to see a thousand people, as miserably cold as them¬ 
selves, stand, motionless, for a few minutes upon a board plat¬ 
form, decorated with bunting, while another man moved his 
lips apparently in speech? Yes, we have guessed it. That 
was what it actually amounted to. But, theoretically, it would 
be stated differently—it was to see a fellow-countryman form¬ 
ally assume the important trust of President of the United 
States. It was mingled curiosity and patriotism on the part of 
the populace ; and, on the part of General Grant, this public 
ceremony was proper as an acknowledgment of the power and 
supremacy of the people who had again raised him to that ex¬ 
alted office. 

Concluding his address with expressions of gratitude for 
the honor conferred upon him, he turned to the Chief Justice, 
Chase, took the oath prescribed by the Constitution,* and, hav- 

* The constitutional provision is as follows: 

“ Before he enters on the execution of his office he shall take the following oath or 
affirmation :— 

“ ‘ I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of Presh 
dent of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and de¬ 
fend the Constitution of the United States.' " 


AN INAUGURATION. 


1 13 

ing kissed the open Bible, he bowed to the multitude. It was 
finished. A President had been inaugurated for the twenty- 
second time in the history of the Union.* As a hundred 
thousand throats vociferated their cheers, the persons on the 
platform dispersed, the Senate returning to its Chamber to 
resume the session so strangely interrupted. The military and 
civic procession reorganized, and, receiving into its line the 
carriage which the President had entered, drawn by four mouse- 
colored horses, it resumed its march, and, amid the booming 
of guns, the ringing of bells, and the huzzas of the people, it es¬ 
corted him in triumph to the Executive Mansion—his residence 
for another term of four years, as the Chief Magistrate of the 
greatest and mightiest Republic in the world ! 

* This second inauguration of General Grant is recorded as the twenty-second, \ jk- 
oned by Presidential terms of four years. He was, however, the eighteenth President 
—Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, and Lincoln, each having been 
elected to a second term ; and Tyler, Fillmore, and Johnson, succeeding, as Vice-Presi¬ 
dents, to the chair made vacant by the death of Harrison, Taylor, and Lincoln, respec¬ 
tively. President Cleveland is thus the twenty-second Executive of the United States. 

8 


CHAPTER XIII. 


A LEAF OF HISTORY. 

Before fairly starting on this narrative we took occasion to 
briefly examine the theory or philosophy of government in 
general and of the Government of the United States in particu¬ 
lar. We have now reached a stage where we may well pause 
to consider, with more careful reference to facts, and even at 
some danger of repetition, the several historic steps by which 
our present Government was established. 

With certain details you are familiar. You know that the 
Atlantic coast was settled by Colonies, bound by ties of allegi¬ 
ance to the British Government ; that taxes were levied upon 
the people of the Colonies without their consent, and that other 
wrongs were inflicted by the rulers who lived across the ocean; 
that the people had no voice in the British Legislature, or Par¬ 
liament, to oppose these invasions of their rights ; and that, 
after patience and petitions and prayers had proved unavailing 
to correct these abuses and secure justice, they were forced to 
take up arms and fight for liberty and independence. 

Of course, every young patriot knows all about the origin 
of the Declaration of Independence ; of the struggles and priva¬ 
tions endured, the obstacles overcome, by our forefathers ; of 
the noble zeal of the statesmen representing the people in the 
Continental Congress ; of the achievements of our battle-heroes 
both on land and on sea. From Lexington to Yorktown, you 


A LEAF OF HISTORY. 11 5 

can easily follow the course of war. Upon these matters I need 
not dwell. 

If we go into history, we shall find that the first American 
Congress for united opposition to the unjust measures of the 
British Government met at New York, on October 7, 1765, 
and consisted of committees from nine of the Colonies. The 
Stamp Act and other grievances were warmly discussed, but 
that it was not a rebellious or traitorous assembly is evident 
from the stated object of the meeting: 

To consult together on the present circumstances of the colonies, and 
the difficulties to which they are, and must be, reduced by the operation 
of the acts of Parliament from levying duties and taxes on the colonies ; 
and to consider of a general and united, dutiful, loyal, and humble repre¬ 
sentation of their condition to his Majesty, and the Parliament, and to im¬ 
plore relief. 

The odious Stamp Act was repealed : but, other grievances 
continuing, a second Congress met in Philadelphia, September 
5, 1774, in the proceedings of which delegates from twelve of 
the Colonies participated. This Congress adjourned on Oc¬ 
tober 25th of that year, but, before doing so, declared that 
another Congress should be held May 10, 1775, “ unless the 
redress of grievances which we have desired be obtained before 
that time.” 

The efforts of the king to prevent another Congress are 
historic facts. It is also a recorded fact that, despite the royal 
prohibition, the representatives of the people did meet again 
and at the exact date designated. This assembly was the great 
“ Continental Congress ” which immortalized itself by the Dec¬ 
laration of Independence, issued July 4, 1776. It convened 
in Philadelphia and continued in session until 1781. Changes 
in the delegates of the various Colonies occurred during that 
time, by reason of deaths and from other causes, but it was not 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


116 

until the Confederation was formed that annual elections to its 
membership were had. 

It should be remembered that, up to this time, the peo¬ 
ple had, as loyal subjects , been remonstrating with the British 
Government. They now determined to beg no more, but to 
assert their natural rights as men and sever the bonds of po¬ 
litical allegiance altogether. While the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence was under consideration in Congress, but before final 
action upon it, a resolution was passed which clearly shows the 
bent of the public mind. The resolution bears date June 11, 
1776, and is as follows : 

Resolved , That a committee be appointed to prepare and digest the 
form of a confederation to be entered into between these colonies. 

The committee performed the labors assigned to it, and on 
November 15, 1777, “ Articles of Confederation and Perpetual 
Union ” were approved by Congress and submitted to the Colo¬ 
nies for their adoption. Those Articles, as agreed to by the 
Colonies and signed by their authorized delegates, are dated 
July 9, 1778, but they were not adopted by all until March 1, 
1781. On the following day, March 2, 1781, the first Congress 
under the new arrangement convened. 

This Confederacy, so entered into, was given the name of 
“ The United States of America,” but the States comprising it 
were like so many nations. They did nothing more than— 

Enter into a firm league of friendship with each other for their com¬ 
mon defence, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general 
welfare ; binding themselves to assist each other against all force offered 
to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, 
sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever. 

And, in order that there should be no misunderstanding, 
they prefaced this statement with the following : 


A LEAF OF HISTORY. 


II 7 

Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and 
every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this confederation ex¬ 
pressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled. 

This announcement sounds like mockery. For what “ pow¬ 
ers,” what ‘‘jurisdictions,” what “ rights ” did the Articles 
delegate ? Absolutely none ! The only tribunal provided for 
was a Congress (known to us by various names, but chiefly as 
the “ General Congress ” or “ Congress of the Confederation ” ), 
consisting of one House, in which each State was entitled to be 
represented by not less than two nor more than seven dele¬ 
gates, with the right, however, of but one vote in the deter¬ 
mination of questions presented for the action of the body. 
There was no executive, no judiciary, in short no actual power 
anywhere in this queer contrivance which some folk called a 
“general government .” And, to complete its oddity, the 
functions given to Congress itself were so feeble as to render 
that institution of no value whatever. It could give its “ con¬ 
sent ” to certain measures which might be. proposed by the 
States, it could do other things only with the “ consent of 
the States (or of not less than nine of the thirteen), and it c juld 
deliver its opinion as a referee in disputes between States 

But power to enforce such measures or decisions, the Arti¬ 
cles did not confer, and, therefore, the General Congress did 
not possess.* The delegates could talk upon a question, and 
give their views as to what ought to be done , but when it came 
to carrying out those views, they were about as useful and as 
helpless as the members of a debating club, who shout and 
screech for hours upon some great question of human liberty 
and happiness, after which they take a vote out of pure curi- 

* The legislative form used by the Old Congress was that of an Ordinance, begin¬ 
ning, “ Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled. The most famous 
of its ordinances is the “Ordinance of 1787,” for the Government of the Northwest 
Territory. 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


118 

osity and to while away further time, and then adjourn. Con¬ 
gress could give advice ; but the States were at liberty either 
to observe, or, if they chose, to disregard and sneer at the sug¬ 
gestions offered—and whenever it involved payment of money 
out of their pockets, they sometimes were inclined to sneer.* 

Their feelings were those of human nature. The people of 
each State had declared themselves free and independent; they 
had had enough of fealty to a superior power ; they resolved 
to be their own sovereigns and govern themselves. It was, 
therefore, but natural that they should have been disinclined to 
create a General Government, armed with wealth and power, 
that might also be made to wield some day the sceptre of tyr¬ 
anny and oppression and crush out the independence of the 
States and the lives and liberties of the people. They had 
writhed under the lash of a “ king”—they did not wish to es¬ 
tablish a “system” that might eventually become a worse des¬ 
potism than that which they had escaped. 

A harmless and worthless arrangement, however, was this 
Alliance, and the upshot of the whole matter was, that Con¬ 
gress advised that a convention of delegates, to be appointed 
by the States, should be held at Philadelphia on May 14, 1787, 
to suggest some “ remedy” (to quote the words of the resolu¬ 
tion) for the “ defects ” ; and the representatives were accord¬ 
ingly chosen, and assembled on the 25th—eleven days later 
than the time fixed. 

The province of these delegates was merely to revise the Ar¬ 
ticles of Confederation, and report to Congress and the various 
State legislatures their opinions. But after a brief deliberation 
they came to the conclusion that it would be better to construct 

* As evidence of this fact, it may be noted that $300,000,000 of paper money, is¬ 
sued by the Continental Congress, upon the credit of the States, for carrying on the 
war, and which the people, under penalty of being declared “ traitors,” were com¬ 
pelled to take as the equivalent of gold and silver, were practically repudiated by the 
States and allowed to “ die in the hands of their possessors.” 



Washington on the Way to His Inauguration 


































































































A LEAF OF HISTORY. 


119 

an entirely new contrivance, vested with complete powers. In 
other words, they resolved, on May 29th : “That a national 
gover 7 iment ought to be established, consisting of a supreme 
legislative, executive, and judiciary.” 

With that in view, they began their work, and—though 
many of them still feared they were jeopardizing their liberties 
in the undertaking—steadily kept at it until finished. It was a 
memorable event—that gathering of free and independent 
States, quietly arranging to merge their own sovereign rights 
into one mighty authority, protective, general, central, and su¬ 
preme—the grandest spectacle, as has been said, recorded in 
the history of the world ! 

Washington was selected to preside over this great Consti¬ 
tutional Convention. Finally, and upon September 17, 1787, 
after a consultation of four months, it forwarded its report, and 
presented to the Congress of the Confederation the form of “ a 
more perfect Union ” and Government for that Union. This 
was the Constitution , and it was speedily transmitted by Con¬ 
gress to the various State legislatures, “ in order to be submitted 
to a convention of delegates chosen in each State by the peo¬ 
ple thereof.” 

It is needless here to speak of the ordeal of criticism that 
it underwent in the State conventions. Eleven of the thirteen 
States having given their assent, in the mode of formal ratifica¬ 
tions,* the new Union and Government came into existence and 
the First Constitutional Congress of the United States assem¬ 
bled in the City of New York on March 4, 1789, pursuant to a 
resolution of the Old Congress of the Confederation^ 

* The remaining States (North Carolina and Rhode Island) added theirs later on. 
t This resolution was passed on September 13, 1788, and provided “that the first 
Wednesday in March next be the time, and the present seat of Congress the place, for 
commencing proceedings under the said Constitution.” As the Government did not 
really get started until April 30th, it has been proposed that the Constitution be amend¬ 
ed, so that Congresses and Administrations shall begin on that date instead of on 
March 4th. 


120 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


I say that the First Congress “ assembled ” on that day. 
As a matter of fact merely a few members appeared. Only 
eight Senators and but eighteen Representatives were on hand 
—not enough, in either House, to transact business. It was 
more difficult to obtain the attendance of the absentees—espe¬ 
cially the Senators—than it is nowadays to get them to the 
Capitol on a wintry night. However, the House, on April 1st, 
and the Senate on the 6th, secured a quorum, and both imme¬ 
diately met in joint convention (on the day last named) and 
counted the electoral votes previously cast for President and 
Vice-President. This performance resulted in declaring George 
Washington and John Adams duly elected to the respective 
offices for the first term ; and special messengers, appointed by 
the Senate, were promptly despatched to convey the formal 
notifications of election. On the 21st of April, Mr. Adams 
was, with proper courtesies, received by the Senate and “ in¬ 
troduced to the Chair ; ” and on the 30th, General Washington, 
whose journey to New York from his beautiful country-seat on 
the banks of the Potomac had been one grand continuous ova¬ 
tion, was inaugurated as President of the Union. 

Congress then met in a building on Wall Street. The site 
is now occupied by one of the sub-treasuries of the Government. 
Upon its entrance-steps a statue of heroic size perpetuates in 
bronze the memory of that day. The statue is of Washington 
—the stone upon which it stands is that on which he stood one 
hundred years ago and took the oath. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


ARMS AND INSIGNIA. 

Having thus inducted into office the President of the Reput> 
lie, our first law-makers patriotically began at once to organize 
and equip the various branches of the governmental service, and 
otherwise meet the intentions and requirements of the Constitu¬ 
tion. 

The first measure that became a law bears date June I, 1789, 
and provides for the swearing-in of Congressmen and divers 
Federal and State officials. Obviously, the next thing in order 
was to arrange for defraying the expenses of the new Govern¬ 
ment. To promptly answer this necessity, Congress adopted 
the simplest and readiest method that presented itself. We, 
therefore, find that the second piece of legislation was a tariff 
act, levying duties on imports ; and that the third was also a 
revenue law imposing what are known as “ tonnage duties” on 
merchant ships. Then followed various enactments, establishing 
certain executive departments, and furnishing them with clerks 
and other assistants. They also passed the important “ Judici¬ 
ary Act,” which created a system of Federal courts, thus or¬ 
ganizing the third coordinate department of the Government, 
and putting into operation the mighty machinery of national 
law and justice. And thereupon, after the passage of several 
bills, fixing the compensation of public officers (of course, not 
neglecting their own), drafting and submitting to the States a 
series of Amendments to the Constitution, and attending to some 
odds and ends of business, the law-makers of the First Com 


122 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


gress brought their first session to a close, and, on September 
29, 1789, adjourned to meet again on January 4, 1790. 

Their action in one other respect should be noticed. It was 
eminently fitting that the work of Omnipotence, in bringing the 
people of the country through their many perils safe in harmony 
and union and under the shelter of a Federal Government, should 
have been acknowledged. It is also but proper that the people 
should still return their thanks for the many blessings which He 
continues to bestow upon them both as individuals and as a na¬ 
tion. The ceremony of offering thanks to God for bountiful 
harvests and other favors enjoyed by man was observed long 
before the framing of the Constitution. The Pilgrim Fathers 
set the example to us ; but, although occasionally observed by 
our Government in the past, it dates, as an established custom, 
only from the time of Lincoln, the day being designated by 
annual proclamations of the President.* That of President 
Washington (which recites the action of the First Congress) is 
especially instructive. I give it as originally published : 

A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA. 

Whereas it is the Duty of all Nations to acknowledge the Providence of 
Almighty God, to obey his Will, to be grateful for his Benefits, and 
humbly to implore his Protection and Favor: And whereas both 
Houses of Congress have, by their Joint Committee, requested me 
“ To recommend to the People of the United States a Day of public 
“ Thanksgiving and Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with 
“ grateful Hearts the many and signal Favors of Almighty GOD, es- 
“ pecially by affording them an Opportunity peaceably to establish a 
“ Form of Government for their Safety and Happiness : ” 

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the Twenty- 
sixth Day of November next, to be devoted by the People of these States 

* The Governors of States generally follow the lead of the President in this matter, 
and the proclamations are published in the leading journals of the country. The last 
Thursday of November is the favored day. 


ARMS AND INSIGNIA. 


123 


to the Service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author 
of all the good that was, that is, or that will be : That we may then all 
unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble Thanks for his kind 
Care and Protection of the People of this Country previous to their becom¬ 
ing a Nation ; for the signal and manifold Mercies and the favorable Inter¬ 
positions of his Providence in the Course and Conclusion of the late War ; 
for the great Degree of Tranquillity, Union, and Plenty which we have 
since enjoyed ; for the peaceable and rational Manner in which we have 
been enabled to establish Constitutions of Government for our Safety and 
Happiness, and particularly the National one now lately instituted ; for 
the civil and religious Liberty with which we are blessed, and the Means we 
have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge ; and, in general, for all 
the great and various Favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. 

And, also, That we may then unite in most humbly offering our Prayers 
and Supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech 
him to pardon our national and other Transgressions ; to enable us all, 
whether in public or private Stations, to perform our several and rela¬ 
tive Duties properly and punctually ; to render our national Government 
a Blessing to all the People, by constantly being a Government of wise, 
just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and 
obeyed ; to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations, (especially 
such as have shewn kindness unto us,) and to bless them with good Gov¬ 
ernment, Peace, and Concord ; to promote the Knowledge and Practice 
of true Religion and Virtue, and the Encrease of Science among them 
and us ; and, generally, to grant unto all Mankind such a Degree of tem¬ 
poral Prosperity as he alone knows to be best. 

Given under my Hand, at the City of New York, the third Day of Oc¬ 
tober, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty- 
nine. G. WASHINGTON. 

During their second and third sessions, the members of the 
First Congress established the permanent seat of Government 
at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia ; * at¬ 
tended to banking and currency questions ; arranged for the 

* The struggle over this question had been started some years before, under the 
Confederation, and was fiercely continued by the First Congress, members from vari¬ 
ous sections contending for different localities. The present location was agreed upon 
as a “ compromise,” but actual possession of it by the departments of Government was 
not taken until the autumn of 1800. 


24 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


payment of the public debt incurred prior to the new form of 
Government in maintaining the interests of the people ; and 
supplied other wants of the nation. Their labors have been 
continued by subsequent Congresses, so that now the Federal 
Government is a marvellous contrivance of thoroughness and 
order. 

This great system, you will remember, is not the work of a 
day. The three powers of Government were furnished by the 
Constitution ; yet to provide for the wielding of those powers 
has demanded a century of legislation. But, however other¬ 
wise complete or incomplete in the organization of its Govern¬ 
ment and its ability to transact business as a nation, it would 
have been humiliating indeed if the Republic, in its early days, 
had been too poor to display a Great Seal to give authenticity 
to its official acts and records, or to flourish a flag as evidence of 
national sovereignty ! The old Revolutionary forefathers un¬ 
derstood the proprieties, as well as the eternal fitness of things ; 
and it is a curious fact, as indicating the importance attached 
to a seal, that this matter was considered by the Continental 
Congress on the very day on which the Declaration of Indepen¬ 
dence was read, and the separate existence of the States pro¬ 
claimed to the world. After the signing of the Declaration, on 
July 4, 1776, and before the adjournment for the day, a com¬ 
mittee was appointed—consisting of Benjamin Franklin, John 
Adams, and Thomas Jefferson—“ to prepare a device for a seal 
for the United States of America.” The committee made a 
report within a few weeks, but no decisive action was taken for 
six years. On June 20, 1782, the Congress of the Confedera¬ 
tion adopted the following “ device for an armorial achieve¬ 
ment and reverse of the Great Seal for the United States in 
Congress assembled : ” 

Arms : Paleways of thirteen pieces, argent and gules ; a chief, azure ; 
the escutcheon on the breast of the American eagle displayed proper, 


ARMS AND INSIGNIA. 


125 


holding in his dexter talon an olive branch, and in his sinister a bundle of 
thirteen arrows, all proper, and in his beak a scroll inscribed with this 
motto, “ Epluribus UnumA 

For the Crest : Over the head of the eagle, which appears above the 
escutcheon, a glory, or, breaking through a cloud, proper, and surround¬ 
ing thirteen stars, forming a constellation, argent, on an azure field. 

Reverse : A pyramid unfinished. In the zenith, an eye in a tri¬ 
angle, surrounded with glory, proper. Over the eye, these words : li An- 
nuit coeptisA On the base of the pyramid, the numerical letters, 
“ MDCCLXXVI.” And underneath, the following motto : “ Novus ordo 
seclorumA * 

This device was used by the old General Congress ; and by a 
statute of the First Congress under the Constitution (Septem¬ 
ber 15, 1789), it was adopted as the Great Seal of the United 
States, to be kept by the Secretary of State, and affixed by him 
to proclamations and other executive instruments and acts. 

The subject of a flag, or standard, was also considered in the 
Continental Congress; and, on June 14, 1777, this resolution 
was passed : 

Resolved , That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, 
alternate red and white ; that the union be thirteen stars, white, in a blue 
field, representing a new constellation. 

The admission into the Union, after the establishment of 
the present Government, of Vermont and Kentucky as new 
States, caused the number of stars and stripes to be increased 
to fifteen each ; and the subsequent addition of five other 
States led to the following enactment, which is yet in force, ap¬ 
proved on April 4, 1818 : 

* The eagle and arrows are familiar to all school-boys. The " reverse,” or unfinished 
pyramid, is seldom if ever used. The motto “ E pluribus Unum” —one composed of 
many—refers to the formation of the Union of States. The mottoes on the reverse, 
“Annuit cceptis” and “Novus ordo seclorumR mean, respectively, “Heaven favors 
the undertaking ” and “A new series of ages.” 


126 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


An Act to establish the flag of the United States. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled , That from and after the fourth day 
of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, 
alternate red and white: that the union be twenty stars, white in a blue 
field. 

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted , That on the admission of every new 
State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that 
such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next suc¬ 
ceeding such admission. 



Our Flag in 1776 and 1886. 


Whenever, therefore, an American sees this glorious ensign 
of his country, the stripes recall to his mind the birth of the 
Republic, with the events that surrounded it; the stars suggest 
its wonderful development in size, in resources, and in power; 
and, in homage to the national grandeur and protective author¬ 
ity which it represents, wherever the wandering patriot beholds 
it—whether in mid-ocean floating at the head of a passing ship, 
or waved aloft in the streets of foreign lands—he lifts his hat 
and greets it with the cheers of filial love and pride ! 


CHAPTER XV. 


OVER THE RECESS. 

Let us now revert to the events following the inauguration 
of 1873. Returning to our Chamber, the Vice-President re¬ 
sumed the chair at 12.47 o’clock, the ceremonies on the portico 
having occupied not half an hour. After the passage of the 
usual resolutions, fixing the hour of daily meeting and pro¬ 
viding for the notification of the President that the Senate had 
convened in obedience to his proclamation, the Senate ad¬ 
journed to the following Thursday. 

This special session of the Senate was called by the Presi¬ 
dent, principally, if not wholly, to have that body act upon his 
nominations of men to office. The session being purely for the 
transaction of executive business, no legislation was permissible. 
There was no House of Representatives, and would be none 
until the following December, unless an extraordinary occasion 
should in the meantime arise requiring the exercise of its power. 

After appointing its committees for the session, and attend¬ 
ing to the business submitted by the President, the Senate, on 
the twenty-sixth day of March, with the usual formalities, ad¬ 
journed sine die , to meet again, however, on the first day in 
December, unless called together again by the President before 
that time. 

But before adjourning, it took the precaution to appoint 
Senator Carpenter President of the Senate pro tempore .* This 


“ For the time being.” 


128 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


position of President pro tempore was, under then existing law, 
a very important one. If the President of the United States 
had died, resigned, been removed, or had become incapable of 
performing the duties of his office, they would have devolved 
upon the Vice-President, and the President of the Senate pro 
tempore would have become the Acting Vice-President of the 
United States ; and, in the event of the death or disability of 
both the President and Vice-President, the President of the 
Senate pro tempore would have acted as President of the United 
States until the removal of the disability or the election of an¬ 
other President in accordance with the statute upon the subject. 
In Great Britain and many other nations of the world the succes¬ 
sion to the throne depends upon blood relationship. Those na¬ 
tions are therefore not likely ever to be without persons to act 
as rulers. Our line of succession, however, was, until recently, 
very short—after the President of the Senate pro tempore came 
the Speaker of the House, and beyond that no provision had 
been made by Congress under the authority conferred upon it 
by the Constitution. But at the time of which I write, there 
was no House, and consequently no Speaker ; so, if the Presi¬ 
dent and Vice-President as well as the President of the Senate 
pro tempore had died, after the adjournment of that special ses¬ 
sion, the Government would have had no head. 

Such a state of affairs would have been, to say the least, 
very inconvenient. And we were not long ago on the brink of 
just such a condition of things. When President Garfield died 
there was no Speaker of the House, and the Senate had care¬ 
lessly adjourned without choosing a President pro tempore. 
Providentially, Vice-President Arthur was alive, and he as¬ 
sumed the office of President. Had anything happened to him, 
there might have been confusion. Realizing the danger, how¬ 
ever, he issued a proclamation convening the Senate in special 
session, a President pro tempore was chosen, and the embar- 


OVER THE RECESS. 


129 


rassment was thus removed. Nevertheless, so alarmed were 
many people about the matter that, when Congress met in 
regular session in the December following, it was asked to pass 
a law creating a longer line of succession, in order to guard 
against such an emergency again arising. You would naturally 
suppose from the anxiety that prevailed, that Congress made 
such a law at once. But it did not. On the contrary, it al¬ 
lowed the Republic to be menaced anew ; and less than a year 
ago,* upon the death of Vice-President Hendricks, the same 
condition of affairs was repeated. Once again, upon the as¬ 
sembling of Congress, the people demanded that a proper law 
be enacted ; and this time the demand was not ignored. The 
Senate promptly passed a bill establishing a different and longer 
line of succession ; the House (for a wonder !) acted upon the 
measure without delay ; and the President gave it his approval 
on the 19th of January, 1886. 

This new law (repealing the old enactment of March 1, 1792) 
legislates the President pro tempore of the Senate and the 
Speaker of the House out of the line of succession, and substi¬ 
tutes, in their stead, as possible successors to the office of Pres¬ 
ident, the members of the Cabinet, in stated order. That is, 
after the Vice-President comes the Secretary of State, then 
comes the Secretary of the Treasury, next follows the Secre¬ 
tary of War, then the Attorney-General, then the Postmaster- 
General, then the Secretary of the Navy, and the Secretary 
of the Interior brings up the rear. The law, therefore, in¬ 
creases the dignity and importance of Cabinet officers, but 
applies only to such as shall have been appointed by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, and such as are eligible 
to the office of President under the Constitution, and not under 
impeachment by the House of Representatives at the time of 
succession. It also repeals the statutory provision in regard to 

* November, 1885. 


9 


130 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


a new election of President and Vice-President by the Electoral 
College, but requires that Congress (if not then in session, or 
if it would not meet in regular session within twenty days) shall 
be convened in extraordinary session by proclamation of the 
Cabinet officer upon whom the powers and duties of the office 
of President shall so devolve. 

To resume. The Senate remained in session long enough 
for us to become acquainted with the new Senators, and then 
we separated. During that long vacation of eight months, we 
pages, like the Senators, scattered ourselves over the entire 
country from California to Maine. We indulged in the ordi¬ 
nary juvenile delights ; but, although we had a grand time, we 
were only too happy when the first of December came around 
and both Houses again convened. 

There was nothing remarkable about the proceedings of the 
Senate on this opening day, so I went over to the House of 
Representatives to render such encouragement in its difficult 
task of organization as my presence was likely to afford. This 
was the beginning of the first regular session of the Forty-third 
Congress, and at twelve o’clock the Clerk of the last House 
(there being no Speaker) called the members to order. This 
power is conferred upon him by a law of Congress providing 
for the organization of the House. After a call of the roll, the 
Clerk said : 

“Two hundred and eighty-one members having answered 
to their names, being more than a quorum, the Clerk is now 
ready to receive amotion to proceed to the election of Speaker.” 

Several members arose and suggested the names of various 
persons ; but every one knew beforehand who would be elected. 
The Republicans were in the majority, and, prior to the meet¬ 
ing of the House, they had come together and held a caucus. 
A caucus is a secret session of Congressmen all of the same 
party in which they talk over the policy of legislation and 


OVER THE RECESS. 


131 

other matters, and agree to act together. The Republicans of 
the House, as well as those of the Senate, have frequent cau¬ 
cuses ; so also have the Democrats. In this particular caucus, 
the Republican members of the House had agreed to nominate 
and vote for James G. Blaine, who had been the Speaker of 
the preceding House. Tellers were appointed, and, as the 
majority of the House voted for Mr. Blaine, he was declared by 
the Clerk duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives 
of the Forty-third Congress. He was conducted to the chair 
by two of the members, and made a brief address ; whereupon 
Representative Dawes, at the request of the Clerk, administered 
the oath to the Speaker. Then the Speaker swore in the 
members in attendance, and after the election of a Clerk, Ser- 
geant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper, Postmaster, and Chaplain, the 
organization of the House was complete. The appointment of 
committees being the privilege of the Speaker, it required sev¬ 
eral days for him to make up the list ; but, with this exception, 
the House was ready to begin making laws. 

There remained but one other interesting feature of the pro¬ 
ceedings of organization. Every member naturally wished the 
best seat in the Hall that he could obtain ; and as all of them 
could not be satisfied, the question was determined by a game 
of chance. The Clerk placed in a box as many slips of paper 
as there were Representatives and Delegates, each bearing the 
name of a member, and a blind-folded page was directed to draw 
these slips from the box one at a time. Mr. Dawes, the “ Father 
of the House,” and also Mr. Alexander H. Stephens, who, on 
account of his age and infirmity, was “ entitled to consideration 
on the part of the House,” were permitted to choose seats be¬ 
fore the drawing commenced. Then all the other members 
retired beyond the outer row, and each Representative and Dele¬ 
gate, as the slip bearing his name was drawn and called, came 
forward and selected a seat. It was quite an amusing perform- 


132 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


ance ; the law-makers enjoyed the fun fully as much as did the 
spectators in the gallery, and the countenances of the fortunate 
members beamed with the smiles of childish joy. 

In the Senate, this matter of seats is settled in a different 
way. At the beginning of every Congress, the newly elected 
Senators choose from among the vacant seats in the order in 
which each Senator notifies Captain Bassett, on the principle 
of “ first come, first served ; ” and if they do not get satisfactory 
seats, they “ speak” for other seats, in the event of such seats 
becoming vacant during their term of office. Captain Bassett 
keeps a record of all these requests in a book, and often the 
same seat will be spoken for by three or four Senators. I re¬ 
member one Senator, who had a seat very desirable on account 
of its location, who became suddenly ill—so ill that he was not 
expected to live. Several of the other Senators applied for his 
seat ; and, when the Senator heard of it, he declared he would 
not die. And he did not ; he even lived to see the seats of 
these Senators who had spoken for his become vacant. 

Within a few days both Houses were in running order, and 
the Forty-third Congress began its work of legislation. One 
of the first laws which it enacted repealed one of the very last 
laws enacted by the Forty-second Congress. The subject is 
worthy of special remark. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


AN UNPOPULAR MEASURE. 

During the fall of 1872, the country emerged from a Presi¬ 
dential and Congressional election, in which “ economy in the 
administration of public affairs ” had been a loud party cry. 
There is no doubt that there were abuses, and that there was 
room for retrenchment of expenses in certain branches of the 
public service, and one of these abuses was what is termed the 
“ franking privilege.” The franking privilege permitted Con¬ 
gressmen and certain public officials to write their signatures 
on envelopes and packages, and send letters and documents 
through the mail without payment of postage. Such a signa¬ 
ture was a “ frank and some Congressmen were rather care¬ 
less and franked private matter of friends which ought to have 
paid postage, thus causing the Government to lose a great deal 
of money which the Post-office Department would otherwise 
have collected from the sale of stamps. 

When the law-makers met in December, they set about cor¬ 
recting this abuse, and in January an act was passed, and be¬ 
came a law, utterly abolishing the franking privilege. 

Now, General Benjamin F. Butler, who was then a member 
of the House, had an idea that, as Congressmen were com¬ 
pelled, by the abolition of the franking privilege, to buy postage 
stamps, they ought to have their salaries increased. So, shortly 
after the passage of the " abolishing” act, and on February 7, 
1873, he reported from the Committee on the Judiciary, a bill 


34 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


which was numbered H. R. 3852,* “to amend the salaries of 
the executive, judicial, and legislative departments of the Gov¬ 
ernment.” It was read a first and second time and recom¬ 
mitted to the Committee on the Judiciary. On February 10th, 
General Butler made a motion that the House suspend its rules 
in order to pass a resolution directing the Committee on Ap¬ 
propriations to include in the “ Miscellaneous Appropriation 
Bill ” the provisions of Bill No. 3852. To suspend the rules re¬ 
quires a two-thirds vote, and, as the General did not succeed in 
getting that number, his motion failed. 

On the 24th of that month, however, he saw his chance. It 
was night. The House had resolved itself into a Committee of 
the Whole on the state of the Union (Mr. Dawes occupying the 
chair instead of Speaker Blaine), and was proceeding to con¬ 
sider the amendments of the Senate to the general appropria¬ 
tion bill (House Bill 2991) entitled : “ A bill making appropria¬ 
tions for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the 
Government for the year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hun¬ 
dred and seventy-four, and for other purposes.” That bill had 
previously passed the House and gone to the Senate, but the 
Senate had made numerous amendments to it and had sent it 
back to the House. One of those amendments provided that 
the salary of the Principal Legislative Clerk of the Senate should 
be raised from $2,592 to $3,600; and the House Committee on 
Appropriations advised that the House concur in that amend¬ 
ment, with a further amendment increasing the salaries of a num¬ 
ber of their own clerks. 

That is where the snow-ball began. General Butler saw 
that a spirit of liberality had taken possession of some of the 
members, and he thereupon offered as an amendment to the 
amendment of the committee , to be substituted for it, a long 

* The bills of each House are numbered in the order of introduction, the numbers 
beginning and ending with every Congress. 


AN UNPOPULAR MEASURE, 


35 


provision, which was almost word for word the language of Bill 
No. 3852, which he had previously tried, but without success, 
to have passed. This amendment of General Butler’s con¬ 
tained the salary-grab and back-pay provision. It provided 
that, on and after March 4, 1873, the pay of the President 
should be $50,000 instead of $25,000, which was the salary 
at that time; that of the Chief Justice of the United States, 
$10,500, and of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, 
$10,000 each ; that the Vice-President and Speaker of the 
House should receive $10,000 each ; that the Cabinet officers 
should receive $10,000 each, and three of the Assistant Sec¬ 
retaries, $6,500 each ; that the salaries of the Senators and 
Representatives and Delegates should be increased from $5,000 
to $7,500 a year each; that the members of the Forty-second 
Congress should be paid at that rate, from the beginning of 
the Congress, two years before (thus giving to each Congress¬ 
man, as “ back-pay,” $5,000, but with certain deductions on ac¬ 
count of mileage), and that $1,200,000 should be appropriated 
to cover this “ back-pay.” 

Immediately after the reading of the proposed amendment, 
it was subjected to a fusillade of ‘‘points of order.” Under the 
rules, these “points of order,” if “ well taken,” and sustained 
by the Chair, or by the Committee upon an appeal from the 
decision of the Chair, would have been fatal. A general ap¬ 
propriation bill is too important to be hindered and delayed by 
all sorts of new fancies, and, to secure its speedy passage, the 
rules do not favor amendments which embody the substance of 
other bills, or which do not pertain directly to the subject under 
consideration. When an amendment not permitted by the rules 
is offered, a member has merely to make the “ point of order” 
and show that fact, and the amendment is left out in the cold. 

This measure, therefore, that was destined to raise so much 
dissatisfaction among the people, was met at the very threshold 


136 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


by objections. Mr. Dawes himself was opposed to it, but it 
was his duty to apply the rules impartially. As Chairman of 
the Committee of the Whole, he overruled the points of order 
made. Mr. Holman, as one of the “ objectors,” appealed from 
the decision of the Chair, but the Committee voted to sustain 
the Chairman’s ruling. 

At last, after much debate, it came to a vote on the proposi¬ 
tion. The Committee divided. That is, those in favor of it 
stood up and were counted by the Chairman, who said there 
were 93 ; and then those in favor sat down, and those opposed 
stood up and were counted, and they numbered 71—in all 164. 
Thereupon Mr. Holman, who never knows when he is beaten, 
demanded tellers. So tellers were ordered and appointed by 
the Chair, and they shook hands and stood up in front of the 
Clerk’s desk, and the Committee again divided. That is, the 
“ Ayes ” passed, one after another, between the two tellers, who 
touched each of them on the back as they passed through, and 
“ counted ” them. Then the “Noes” passed through and 
were counted, and the tellers reported the result to the Chair¬ 
man. There were 81 Ayes and 66 Noes—in all 147, or a 
“ shrinkage ” of 17. 

So the amendment proposed by General Butler was agreed 
to, as well as the other amendments increasing the pay of 
officers and employes of Congress—including the Senate-pages, 
whose compensation was raised from three dollars to three dol¬ 
lars and forty-five cents per day. When the Committee had done 
this, a motion was made that it “ rise,” and, being agreed to, 
Mr. Dawes came down from the chair, the Speaker resumed it, 
the mace was placed in position, and the House proper was 
again at work. Then Mr. Dawes stood in front of the Clerk’s 
desk where the tellers had previously stood (which space is 
called the “ area of freedom”) and went through the formality 
of reporting to the Speaker what had been done by the House 


AN UNPOPULAR MEASURE. 


137 


while in Committee of the Whole, of which he had been Chair¬ 
man. Thereupon the Speaker reported the information back 
to the members (who, of course, knew it quite as well as he 
did) ; and then the members agreed to the amendments again, 
thus making their adoption the action of the House, and so 
really passing the bill. And this explains to you the whole 
process of an action of the House in “ Committee of the 
Whole.” 

From the House the bill went to the Senate, and after a 
debate, the Senate asked for a committee of conference— 
that is, a committee composed of members of both Houses—to 
adjust the bill so that it should satisfy the majority in both 
Houses. Such a committee was appointed, and on Monday, 
March 3d, the conference report came up for consideration in 
both the Senate and the House, and it was adopted, after a 
very spirited discussion, by a vote of 36 to 27 in the Senate 
and of 102 to 96 in the House, and the bill thus became an act. 
It was late at night when the Senators finished their delibera¬ 
tions on the subject. On the morning of March 4th, the House, 
at 2.50 A.M., took a recess until half-past nine o’clock A.M. ; 
and upon re-assembling, Mr. Buckley, from the Committee on 
Enrolled Bills, reported that the committee had examined the 
bill and found it duly enrolled. It was then signed by the 
Speaker, and the Clerk brought it over to the Senate. There¬ 
upon the parchment was signed by Vice-President Colfax, and 
Captain Bassett stood by the side of his chair and dried the ink 
of his signature with a blotter ! That was the last I saw of it, 
but somehow it must have reached the President’s Room, for, 
shortly afterward, Mr. Babcock, the President’s private secre¬ 
tary, appeared in the House and informed that body that the 
act had been approved. 

Within a few minutes after Mr. Babcock’s announcement, 
the Speaker of the House declared the House of Representatives 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


138 

of the Forty-second Congress adjourned without day, and he 
and the other law-makers at once marched over to the Senate 
to attend the ceremony of the inauguration before described. 

Such was the last memorable act of that Congress. If you 
want to find comments on it, pick up almost any newspaper of 
that year. If you want to see the law itself, you will find it in 
the 17th volume of the Statutes-at-Large, at page 485. 

The people of the country were furious when they heard of 
this “ salary-grab.” The idea of the law-makers voting to 
themselves more than a million dollars just at the end of their 
terms, and then quietly dispersing, jingling the gold in their 
pockets ! The more the people thought of it, the more indig¬ 
nant they became. There was one loud, prolonged outburst of 
wrath against the members of that Congress, which found vent 
in the newspapers, the “organs of public opinion,” and which 
swept the country from one end to the other. 

The fun of it all was yet to come. Many members had 
drawn their back-pay, including even those who had opposed 
the measure. As the storm of public condemnation increased 
in fury, those who had not drawn were afraid to touch the 
money, and those who had drawn began to feel uneasy and to 
wish they had not done it, and some even returned the money 
to the Treasury. 

Many of the Representatives of the Forty-second Congress 
had not been re-elected at the election of 1872, and never ex¬ 
pected to be. These, of course, were not alarmed. But other 
members had been re-elected and wanted to be re-elected for¬ 
ever and forever, and they were very eager to do something 
to soften the wrath of their constituents. Their wild, anxious 
efforts at repentance were almost laughable. And I may as 
well remark here, that, notwithstanding all their efforts, some 
of them were never forgiven, but were put aside by the people 
of their districts at the very next election. 


AN UNPOPULAR MEASURE . 


139 


Let me show you, however, the celerity with which the 
Congressmen acted when they reassembled. The first session 
of the Forty-third Congress began, as stated in the last chapter, 
on Monday, the first day of December, 1873. On Thursday, 
the fourth, a resolution was offered, in the House, that a special 
committee should be appointed to take into consideration the 
repeal of the “ Salary Bill,” so called. 

That resolution was agreed to ; and then was presented a 
pretty spectacle ! Nearly every member seemed to have pre¬ 
pared a bill on the subject, and was anxious to gain the credit 
of having repealed the obnoxious law. On the 16th of the 
month, the committee reported a bill to repeal the former law, 
and it was promptly taken up and considered. The discussion 
that ensued was fierce and exciting. Some obstinate members 
spoke of the denunciation of the people as the outcry of a law¬ 
less mob ! Others spoke less defiantly. But when it came to 
voting, nearly all, General Butler included, voted for the pas¬ 
sage of the bill for the repeal of the law. It was wonderful ! 
And the same is true of the Senate. 

This measure was passed in the House of Representatives, 
December 17, 1873, by a vote of 122 to 74 ! On January 12, 
1874 (the holidays having intervened), the Senate passed it, 
with an amendment, by a vote of 50 to 8 ! and the title was 
amended so as to read: “A bill repealing the increase of 
salaries of members of Congress and other officers.” As so 
amended, it provided that “ the increase of the compensation 
of public officers and employees, whether members of Congress, 
Delegates, or others, except the President of the United States 
and Justices of the Supreme Court,” should be repealed, and 
the salaries fixed as before the passage of the Act of March 3, 

1873. 

The very next day after its passage by the Senate, it reached 
the House. The Representatives promptly concurred in the 


HO 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


amendment of the Senate by a vote of 225 to 25 ! and on 
the 20th (one week later) it was approved by the President. 
And you will find that law in the 18th volume of the Statutes- 
at-Large, at page 4. 

And so the law-makers, after boldly marching up the hill, 
deemed discretion the better part of valor, and marched down 
again. Perhaps no better instance could be given of the great 
fact stated in my opening chapter—a fact, by the way, that it 
will not be my fault if you forget—that the Government of the 
United States is a “ Government by the People.” 


CHAPTER XVII. 


REPUBLICAN SIMPLICITY. 

A matter often made the subject of comment by observing 
foreigners is the smallness of the salaries paid to the President, 
judges, and other high officers of our Republic—a rate of com¬ 
pensation extremely low as compared with other countries and 
in proportion to our wealth and power as a nation. This feature 
has been characteristic of our policy from the beginning of the 
Government ; it is based not so much upon notions of economy 
as upon the unwillingness of the people to endow any of their 
institutions with even the semblance of regal magnificence. 

It was not at all strange that, after their sad experience 
under monarchical rule, the early Americans should have dis¬ 
liked everything that savored of royalty. Not only was this 
spirit shown in attacks made upon a peculiar courtliness of 
fashion affected by a portion of society, but it found expression 
in the Constitution itself. It was distinctly provided that— 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; 
and an instance of the popular feeling on this subject and of the 
peculiarities of the two Houses, is presented by the proceedings 
of the First Congress. 

The question was raised as to— 

What style or titles it will be proper to annex to the offices of President 
and Vice-President of the United States; if any other than those given in 
the Constitution ; 

and this subject was deemed of sufficient importance to receive 
the attention of a special joint committee of both Houses. 


142 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


This committee reported that the President should be addressed 
as “ His Excellency.” The Senators would not agree to the 
report; they fancied the title “His High Mightiness.” A 
committee of conference was then appointed, and reported— 

That, in the opinion of the committee, it will be proper thus to address 
the President: “ His Highness, the President of the United States of Amer¬ 
ica, and Protector of their liberties.” 

I think that was high-sounding enough to please the tastes of 
the Senators. But the members of the House of Representatives 
would consent to nothing of the kind. They did not believe 
it essential to the dignity of a free people that their Chief Offi¬ 
cer should be laden down with anything more than a simple 
description of his office. The result of the whole matter is 
shown in the following resolution, passed by the Senate on 
May 14, 1789: 

From a decent respect for the opinion and practice of civilized nations, 
whether under monarchical or republican forms of government, whose cus¬ 
tom it is to annex titles of respectability to the office of their chief magis¬ 
trate ; and that, on intercourse with foreign nations, a due respect for the 
majesty of the people of the United States may not be hazarded by an ap¬ 
pearance of singularity, the Senate have been induced to be of opinion 
that it would be proper to annex a respectable title to the office of Presi¬ 
dent of the United States ; but the Senate, desirous of preserving harmony 
with the House of Representatives, where the practice lately observed in 
presenting an address to the President was without the addition of titles, 
think it proper, for the present, to act in conformity with the practice of 
that House : 

Therefore, 

Resolved , That the present address be : “To the President of the 
United States,” without addition of title. 

That resolution has never been disturbed, and there is no 
legislative authority for any other address than the one so 
adopted. This form of official salutation is still observed in 
the relations between Congress and the President—and it 



An Unpretentious President. 













































































































REPUBLICAN SIMPLICITY. 143 

should be adhered to. Extravagant titles are not in good taste 
in a Republic. 

A somewhat similar dispute arose between the early Senate 
and House, when the currency measures were discussed, in r 
gard to a design for an impression upon United States c 
The Senate proposed a representation of the President’s ] 
but the House, thinking, no doubt, of the old Roman 
which bore the head of Caesar—and perhaps of some Eure 
pieces of money—declared that this idea also inclined tc 
“ Royalty,” and suggested that a representation of “ Lib« 
should be adopted. The Senate again conceded the poin 
the design proposed by the House was accordingly a^. 
upon. 

But while the action of Congress did not enlarge the title of 
the Executive, Washington thought that, such as it was, it was 
entitled to respect. In illustration of this fact, a story is told 
which, whether authentic or not, is good enough to be repeated. 
An English officer, it is said, having addressed a communica¬ 
tion to our first President as “ George Washington, etc., etc.,” 
Washington informed him that he was “ President of the 
United States of America,” and that he wished no “ etcetera” 
after his name. “ Oh, well! ” exclaimed the officer, carelessly, 
“‘etcetera’ means every thing.” “ Yes,” rejoined Washington, 
with quiet firmness, “ but it may mean #/^thing ! ” 

The clause of the Constitution prohibiting the United States 
from conferring titles also declares that— 

No person holding any office of profit or trust under them [the United 
States], shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, 
emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, 
or foreign State.* 

* So intense was the feeling on the subject that, in the year 1810, it was proposed to 
amend the Constitution, and make it a serious offence for any American to accept a 
foreign title. 


144 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS ,. 


Frequently, foreign potentates have desired to express in 
various ways their appreciation of the merit or friendly services 
of naval, military, or civil officers of this country, and Congress 
has seldom refused to grant the request of the American who 
has become the object of foreign liberality. To do otherwise 
would be rather discourteous to the good-natured monarch or 
country proposing to do honor to an American citizen. 

There are on the Congressional Statute-books many acts 
granting to American officers named in them permission to ac¬ 
cept gifts from foreign powers. Among others, I find one in 
regard to certain presents from the King of Siam, consisting of 
“ first, a portrait, in frame, of Her Royal Highness the Princess 
of Siam ; second, a silver enamelled cigar-case ; third, a match¬ 
box and tray of Siamese work,” which, at the time of the pas¬ 
sage of the act, were deposited in the Smithsonian Institution 
at Washington. 

The mention of that Institution reminds me of another Con¬ 
gressional action (which may be cited as a good specimen of 
its kind) in reference to the distinguished scientist who, until 
the time of his death, presided over its affairs. The renown 
of Professor Joseph Henry is world-wide. The following joint 
resolution of Congress, approved by President Grant on April 
20, 1871, illustrates the high esteem in which his memory is 
held : 

Joint Resolution giving the consent of Congress to Professor Joseph 
Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to accept the Title and 
Regalia of a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olaf, con¬ 
ferred upon him by the King of Sweden and Norway, Grand Master of said 
Order. 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
of America in Congress assembled , That the consent of Congress is hereby 
given to Professor Joseph Henry, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 
to accept the title and regalia of a commander of the Royal Norwegian 


REPUBLICAN SIMPLICITY. 


HS 


order of St. Olaf, conferred upon him for his distinguished scientific ser¬ 
vice and character by the king of Sweden and Norway, grand master of 
said order. 

Of course, private individuals, not in the employ of the Gov¬ 
ernment, do not require the “consent” of Congress. It is 
pleasant to note that genius in the fields of letters and of science 
is not overlooked by distant friends, even if unrecognized at 
home; and when reading such enactments as the above reso¬ 
lution, we pages used to confess to a presentiment of coming 
honors for ourselves. Could it be that His Majesty the King of 
the Cannibal Islands had never heard of us ? 

The constitutional requirement that Congress must give 
its consent to the acceptance of foreign presents or titles, is 
an evidence of what foreigners call our republican simplicity. 
This spirit of “simplicity” (to adopt that term) pervades, as 1 
have said, all our institutions. It allows of no distinctions of 
rank. It means absolute freedom—equality of rights before 
the law. I could give you innumerable instances of its work¬ 
ings ; but it is sufficiently shown in the “accessibility” of 
public officials. The people are not disposed to forget that they 
are supreme in authority. The officials are their agents and 
servants, subordinate, not superior to them, and they require 
that the management of their affairs shall be open to inspection. 
The citizen from the back-woods of the West, and the citizen 
from the classic streets of Boston, may wander about the halls 
of Government with equal freedom and impunity. The only re¬ 
strictions are those of prudence or necessity. An American 
should not complain because in roaming through the vaults of 
the Treasury he is required to have the escort of a guide. If 
he wishes to hear the debates of Congress, a seat in the gallery 
is at his disposal.* 

* A recent exception to this privilege should be noted. On the occasion of the dedi¬ 
cation of the Washington Monument in February, 1885, the general public were ex¬ 
it/ 


4 6 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


That we find “ red tape ” and excessive dignities in some of 
our official circles, I concede ; but these are trifles as compared 
with the tedious formalities and pomp of other lands. Indeed, 
it is only by such comparison that you can really estimate at 
their proper worth these features of American equality. 

Here we have no long line of servants in livery and soldiers 
in uniform parading within and without our public buildings. 
There is not a vestige of an army around the White House, and 
about the only livery the President sees is that worn by his 
coachman when driving through the streets of Washington, in 
a very ordinary carriage, drawn by two very ordinary horses. 
I have seen President Grant gazing at the pictures in the Cap¬ 
itol, and sauntering up the Avenue with the crowd, quite un¬ 
pretentious and unconcerned—even stopping to inspect the 
articles in a show-window. And Justices of the Supreme Court 
and Congressmen are as frequently encountered, and are as 
easy of address, as the lads of the city, who, also, when school 
is out and their labor done, take their daily promenades on that 
great thoroughfare. 

eluded from the services in the House of Representatives, admission to the galleries be¬ 
ing given only to the personal friends of Congressmen. But this exclusion, so plainly 
repugnant to the democratic spirit of our institutions, provoked severe condemnation 
by the press of the country. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY. 

About midway between the Senate-chamber and the rotunda 
of the Capitol is a semi-circular room into which I never ven¬ 
tured without a mingled feeling of reverence and awe. One 
day, not long after the repeal of the Salary Bill, while passing 
along the corridor, I noticed quite a crowd struggling for ad¬ 
mittance into this room. The clock was on the stroke of twelve, 
and my presence was needed in the Senate. As I stood for a 
moment pondering over what I should do, a door on one side 
of the corridor noiselessly opened, an opposite door did like¬ 
wise, a procession of venerable men, arrayed in black silk 
gowns, emerged and slowly crossed my path, the doors quietly 
closed, and the procession was shut from sight. I shall allow 
it to remain invisible for a while. By the time it reappears, we 
may know enough law to face it with composure. 

In treating of the general powers of government, we saw 
that they are three in number; and in describing the plan of 
our own Government, we noticed that these three powers are 
here confided to three separate departments. The first article 
of the Constitution vests the legislative power of the Republic 
in the Congress; the second article vests the executive power 
in the President; and the third article, in true logical order, 
declares that “ the judicial power of the United States, shall 
be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts 
as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” 


148 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


The Constitution thus established the judicial department of 
the Government ; but the duty of organizing it devolved upon 
Congress. In the performance of this duty, the first Congress 
passed the Judiciary Act before referred to, which became a 
law September 24, 1789. By this act the Supreme Court was 
made to consist of a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. 
Certain inferior courts were created and provided with neces¬ 
sary officers, and regulations were prescribed. Since then, many 
changes and additions have been made, expanding and per¬ 
fecting the judicial system, and carefully defining the powers 
of the various courts. 

The United States is, under present law, divided into a 
number of judicial districts, and within each district is a Federal 
court, known as the “ district court,” presided over by a judge 
known as the “district judge.” These judges are fifty-six in 
number. The jurisdiction of each district court extends over 
the territory embraced within its district, and its powers are 
defined by statute. 

These judicial districts are divided into nine judicial circuits, 
and in each circuit is a “circuit court,” presided over by a 
“circuit judge.” The jurisdiction of each circuit court is co¬ 
extensive with the districts embraced within the circuit, and 
its powers are likewise defined by statute. 

Next to the nine circuit courts comes the Supreme Court 
of the United States. It consists now of a Chief Justice and 
eight Associate Justices. Its jurisdiction extends over the en¬ 
tire Republic; its powers are defined by the Constitution and 
also by statute. It is required by law to hold, at the seat of 
Government, one term annually, commencing on the second 
Monday in October. Furthermore, the law-makers have enacted 
that the nine members of the Supreme Court shall be allotted 
among the nine circuits, and that the Chief Justice and each 
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court shall attend at least 





The Supreme Court of the United States. 















































































































































































THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY. 


149 


one term of the circuit court in each district of the circuit to 
which he is allotted, during every period of two years. The 
Justices of the Supreme Court, when serving on circuit duty, 
are known as “circuit justices ,” to distinguish them from the 
“ circuit judges .” 

To assist the Supreme Court and the circuit and district 
courts in their work, and to enforce their mandates, judgments, 
decrees, and orders, there is a multitude of district attorneys, 
marshals, clerks, and other Federal officers. 

In addition to these courts and certain inferior judicial offi¬ 
cers, such as United States Commissioners, there are the courts 
of the District of Columbia and the Territories, which are of 
Federal creation and authority, and certain commissions for 
the settlement of claims growing out of international relations. 
There is also, at Washington, a Court of Claims, in which a 
citizen who thinks he has been injured by the Government may 
say so, and try to get redress. But the United States cannot 
be “ sued.” This exemption is an “ immunity of sovereignty.” 
All that a citizen can do, therefore, is to “ petition ” and beg 
for justice—not demand it, as a right, from the Government 
which has injured him. And as there are only certain classes 
of cases which the Court of Claims is authorized by statute to 
hear, many persons are driven to Congress with their peti¬ 
tions. While Congress passes an occasional bill granting the 
relief desired, it pigeon-holes the others, and the halls of the 
Capitol are annually crowded by claimants who have sustained 
wrongs or losses at the hands of the Government. Many of 
them give up in despair; others struggle for their rights for 
years, and die without success, leaving their honest claims to 
be pushed (or abandoned) by their heirs. It may be that the 
law-makers have more important things to attend to than ex¬ 
amining private claims ; but, if so, they are to be censured for 
not creating a tribunal with full authority to bestow the national 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


150 

justice which they profess to be too busy to afford. While the 
United States of America is a nation of honest intentions, still 
its Government frequently inflicts wrongs upon the rights of 
individuals, which it also frequently fails to redress. I thought 
I might as well mention this, as I go along, to show that we 
have not yet attained absolute perfection. 

Our ministers and consuls to certain “ half-civilized” coun¬ 
tries are also vested by Congress with judicial powers. The 
authority of these diplomatic and consular officers extends only 
to American citizens resident or travelling abroad, and the ex¬ 
ercise of their power is subject to the will of the foreign Gov¬ 
ernment. So far as the act of Congress is concerned, however, 
an American consul (with the help of four American citizens as 
associates) may condemn a countryman to death. In some 
parts of the world the business of these courts is apparently 
pretty brisk, for I find, by reference to the Statutes-at-Large, 
that not long ago Congress authorized the Secretary of State 
to rent a court-house and jail at Yeddo for the trial and impris¬ 
onment of Americans sojourning in Japan. 

The Federal tribunals are distinct from the State courts. 
The Constitution declares that the judicial power of the United 
States, “ shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising 
under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; 
to all cases affecting ambassadors, or other public ministers 
and consuls ; * to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdic¬ 
tion ; to controversies to which the United States shall be 
a party ; to controversies between two or more States ; be¬ 
tween a State and citizens of another State ; between citizens 
of different States ; between citizens of the same State claiming 
lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or 

* That is, ambassadors, ministers, and consuls of foreign powers representing 
their Governments in the United States. 


THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY. 


151 

the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects." 
But it does not extend to any suit “ commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by citizens of another State, 
or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state." 

All cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and 
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, must be 



A Corner in the Old Supreme Court Room, now the Law Library. 


brought in the Supreme Court of the United States ; in all the 
other cases mentioned, the Supreme Court has the power of 
a court of appeals, subject to any exceptions or regulations 
deemed advisable by Congress.* 

*■ This is the general provision of the Constitution. The exclusive and original 
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is thus defined by statute of Congress : “The Su¬ 
preme Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of all controversies of a civil nature where 
a State is a party, except between a State and its citizens, or between a State and citi¬ 
zens of other States, or aliens, in which latter cases it shall have original, but not exclu- 


















52 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


But while the Federal judiciary, like the Federal legisla¬ 
ture, has authority over certain matters only and cannot en¬ 
croach upon the province of the State judiciary, the State 
courts, like the State legislatures, must not interfere with the 
province of the General Government ; and it is expressly de¬ 
clared that “ this Constitution, and the laws of the United 
States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all 
treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the 
United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the Land ; and the 
judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the con¬ 
stitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” 

The Justices of the Supreme Court are, under constitutional 
provision, appointed by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate ; and although Congress is empowered 
to vest the appointment of “ inferior officers ” in the President 
alone or elsewhere, it has been generally accepted, by uniform 
custom, that the judges of the circuit and district judges are 
not such “ inferior officers ” as the Constitution had in view ; 
and these judges are, accordingly, appointed in the manner in 
which those of the Supreme Court are appointed, and, like those 
superior justices, hold their offices during good behavior. 

The Supreme Court, having been expressly established by 
the Constitution, is termed a “ constitutional court.” Its exist¬ 
ence, as the highest court in the land, cannot be disturbed by 
legislative power, and the Justices can be removed from office 
only by proceedings on impeachment, about which I shall have 
something to say hereafter. The circuit and district courts, 
however, and all other judicial tribunals inferior to the Supreme 
Court, having been created by Congressional enactments, are 

sive, jurisdiction. And it shall have exclusively all such jurisdiction of suits or proceed¬ 
ings against ambassadors, or other public ministers, or their domestics, or domestic 
servants, as a court of law can have consistently with the law of nations ; and original , 
but not exclusive, jurisdiction of all suits brought by ambassadors, or other public min¬ 
isters, or in which a consul or vice-consul is a party." 


THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY. 


153 


mere “ statutory courts,” and they may be changed or even 
abolished—in other words, “legislated out of existence”—by 
the same authority. 

The Supreme Court holds its sessions in the Capitol at 
Washington. The room in which it sits was formerly occupied 
by the Senate, and is commonly known as the old Senate- 
chamber. The sacred associations of the past, the solemn de¬ 
liberations of the present, entitle it to veneration. There, in 
days gone by, our mightiest statesmen met; there, to-day, our 
highest magistrates assemble. Grand old council-hall and forum 
—no wonder that I never entered it without some fear and 
trembling ! 

Naturally, during my page career, I saw a great deal of the 
Supreme Court, and learned much about its powers, forms, and 
ceremonies. One occasion requires mention. 

In May, 1873, scarcely two months after administering the 
oath of office to President Grant, and during the recess of the 
Senate, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase died. At the next 
session of Congress, the President sent to the Senate the nom¬ 
ination of Morrison R. Waite, as Chief Justice of the United 
States, and on January 21, 1874, the Senate confirmed the nom¬ 
ination. But the new Chief-Justice did not assume the duties 
of his office until March 4th—the anniversary of the inaugural 
ceremonies of the Executive. Perhaps he selected that day be¬ 
cause of the coincidence. 

However, he resolved to take the oath on March 4th, and 
knowledge of this fact had drawn to the Capitol the crowd con¬ 
gregated in the corridor. As it was a ceremony that I might 
never again have a chance to witness, I decided not to let the 
opportunity pass. When I saw the silk-gowned Justices file 
across the corridor from their robing-room on their way to 
the court-room, I darted around to a private entrance and 
reached the room in the very nick of time. It was just twelve 


154 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


o’clock, and as I breathlessly entered, the Crier of the Court 
rapped upon his desk and called out: “The Honorable the 
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court.” The people in the 
room rose to their feet and looked—not at me, but—toward the 
north door. And there, coming down the narrow passage, was 
,the same procession I had seen—Mr. Justice Clifford in front, 
the newly-appointed Chief Justice in the rear. 
When he reached the desk of the Clerk of the 
Court Mr. Waite paused. The Associate Jus¬ 
tices continued their march until they reached 
the Bench. There they stood for a moment, 
arranged in line. Bowing to the attorneys 
assembled in the Bar, they took their seats, 
Court of t the Sl Untted the lawyers and other spectators following the 
example. Then the Crier opened the session 
by shouting his proclamation: “ O yea ! O yea ! O yea ! All 
persons having business before the Honorable the Supreme 
Court of the United States are admonished to draw near and 
give their attention, for the Court is now sitting ”—and dropping 
his voice, he added, in a low and reverential tone : “ God save 
the United States and this Honorable Court! ” 

A slight pause ensued, and then Justice Clifford handed to 
the Clerk the commission of Chief Justice Waite, and directed 
him to read it aloud. The commission was as follows : 

Ulysses S. Grant, 

President of the United States of America. 

To all who shall see these presents , greeting : 

Know ye that, reposing special trust and confidence in the wisdom, up¬ 
rightness, and learning of Morrison R. Waite, of Ohio, I have nominated, 
and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, do appoint him to 
be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and do author¬ 
ize and empower him to execute and fulfil the duties of that office accord¬ 
ing to the Constitution and laws of the said United States, and to have and 



THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY. 


55 


to hold the said office, with all the powers, privileges, and emoluments to 
the same of right appertaining, unto him, the said Morrison R. Waite, 
during his good behavior. 

In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent, 
and the seal of the United States to be hereunto fixed. 

Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, the twenty-first day 
of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sev¬ 
enty-four, and of the independence of the United States of America, the 
ninety-eighth. 

U. S. Grant. 

[Great seal of the United States.J 

By the President : 

Hamilton Fish, 

Secretary of State. 

The Chief Justice then took the oath of office, first orally 
responding as it was read by the Clerk, and afterward signing 
his name to it in the open book before him.* This done, he 
walked to the rear of the Bench, entered the arching door, and, 
while the Associate Justices and the people upon the floor stood 
and bowed, he took the chair in the centre. That was all there 
was of the ceremony. No bells were rung, no cannons thun¬ 
dered, not even a shout went up in honor of the event. Within 
a few minutes the Court proceeded with its regular business, the 
spectators dispersed, and I hurried away to the more congenial 
legislative atmosphere of the Senate. 

* The form of oath required of the Justices of the Supreme Court, the circuit judges, 
and the district judges, is prescribed by the Judiciary Act, and is as follows : 

“I,-, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without re¬ 

spect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully 
and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me as-, ac¬ 

cording to the best of my abilities and understanding, agreeably to the Constitution 
and laws of the United States ; So help me God.” 



CHAPTER XIX. 


A VACANT CHAIR. 

After the repeal of the Salary Bill, matters in both Houses 
had been going quietly on. But on March II, 1874—one 
week after the investiture of the Chief Justice—the monotony 
was broken. My attention on that day was attracted to this 
unusual language used by the Chaplain of the Senate in his 
opening prayer : 

“ We miss some of our number, who are withdrawn from 
these seats and are lying prostrate with sickness and disease ; 
and especially one who but yesterday came into this Chamber 
with all the presence of his manly form, but now, when we 
meet again this morning, lies close to the edge of the dark 
river.” 

When the journal had been read, Senator Sherman moved 
to adjourn, and the motion was agreed to, without a voice 
being heard, after a session of only nine minutes. Everyone 
whom I met in the Senate, and throughout the building, was 
silent and sad. I soon ascertained the cause. Senator Sum¬ 
ner was dying ! 

I went to the House of Representatives to get away from 
the gloom, but found the shadow wherever I went. I re¬ 
mained in the Hall until three o’clock, and was just on the point 
of leaving, when the Speaker rose and in a trembling voice re¬ 
marked : 

“The Chair lays before the House the following telegram 


A VACANT CHAIR. 


157 


this moment received.” And then, amid painful silence and 
suspense, the Clerk read : 

“ Senator Sumner died at ten minutes before three o’clock.” 

The effect of the announcement was startling. The vast 
audience seemed dazed and actually gasped for breath, and the 
House at once adjourned. It is needless to describe the sensa¬ 
tion produced throughout the city and throughout the land. 
The news of that death instantly spread like a dark and heavy 
pall over the Republic and enveloped everyone in sorrow ! 

The next day the Senate adjourned after passing resolutions 
in regard to the funeral arrangements, and the House did like¬ 
wise. On Friday, the 13th, the Senate assembled at the usual 
hour. The desk and chair of the deceased Senator were cov¬ 
ered with crape, and the walls of the room were heavily draped 
in mourning. The Senators came in noiselessly. The air was 
oppressive, and the Senate floor and galleries were strangely 
silent when the Diplomatic Corps arrived, dressed in black, 
and took the seats prepared for them. Then entered the 
House of Representatives in a body, the Senators standing as 
the members were being seated ; and, following the Representa¬ 
tives, came the Supreme Court of the United States, and the 
President and his Cabinet. 

Immediately afterward the Committee of Arrangements was 
announced. Then came a solemn procession : the casket con¬ 
taining the remains of the dead statesman borne by six officers, 
and escorted by the Committee of Arrangements of the House / 
and Senate, the pall-bearers, and mourners. As the cortege 
entered, the Chaplain of the Senate, who preceded it, slowly 
repeated the words : “ I am the resurrection and the life : he 
that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live—” 
and all the people rose reverently to their feet and stood, with 
bowed heads, while the procession advanced to the catafalque 
in front of the Secretary’s desk. 


. 5 8 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


After an impressive pause, the religious services were begun, 
conducted by the Chaplain of the House and the Chaplain of 
the Senate. Upon their conclusion, the President pro tempore 
(Senator Carpenter) said : 

“ The services appointed to be performed by the Committee 
of Arrangements having been terminated, the Senate of the 
United States intrusts the mortal remains of Charles Sumner 
to its Sergeant-at-Arms and a Committee appointed by it, 
charged with the melancholy duty of conveying them to his 
home, there to be committed earth to earth, ashes to ashes, in 
the soil of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Peace to his 
ashes ! ” 

The coffin having been closed, the procession again formed, 
and as it left the Chamber the spectators rose, glancing after it 
with eyes almost obscured by tears. The casket, followed 
by thousands of people, and with the church bells of the city 
mournfully tolling, was conveyed to its car, and at three o’clock 
the funeral train, all draped in black, moved slowly and silently 
away. 

Previous to the obsequies in the Senate-chamber, the re¬ 
mains lay in state in the rotunda of the Capitol ; but notwith¬ 
standing the cold, bleak day, the crowd was so great that many 
persons failed to gain admission. Arriving in Boston, the peo¬ 
ple of Massachusetts were afforded an opportunity to look once 
more upon the face of their beloved Senator ; and as the sun 
went down on Monday, the 16th of March, the casket was ten¬ 
derly consigned to the ground. 

The ceremonies reminded me of those I had witnessed at 
the Capitol a year before. Yet what a contrast ! Then the 
city was in holiday attire and the nation rejoiced at the begin¬ 
ning of a new Administration. On this occasion, the city was 
shrouded in the emblems of woe, and the voice of the nation 
was choked in grief. And, as Senator Anthony so feelingly 


A VACANT CHAIR. 


159 


said, the sad intelligence of the death of this great Senator had 
extended beyond the shores of our own country, arousing pro¬ 
found regret and sympathy “ wherever Humanity weeps for a 
friend, wherever Liberty deplores an advocate ! ” 

Upon the death of a Senator or Representative, it is cus¬ 
tomary for both Houses to set aside a day for memorial ser¬ 
vices.* In accordance with this usage, the Senate, on April 
27th, resolved, “ That, as an additional mark of respect to the 
memory of Charles Sumner, long a Senator from Massachusetts, 
business be now suspended, that the friends and associates of 
the deceased may pay fitting tribute to his public and private 
virtues.” The House, on the same day, “ in sympathy with 
the action of the Senate,” adopted a similar resolution. 

I need not dwell upon what was said. Partisan animosities 
were forgotten, and men of opposite political faiths vied with 
one another in eulogizing the life and character of the dead 
Senator. The demonstration in Congress was but one of many 
held throughout the country. At last, everyone was able to 
look calmly and dispassionately upon his deeds, and estimate 
them at their worth. But it had not been so during his career. 
His independence and fearlessness of thought and action had 
aroused the fury of all parties ; and partisan hate is almost im¬ 
placable. When Charles Sumner entered upon his duties as a 
Senator, he was treated by his adversaries in the Senate in a 
manner which violated all the courtesies of that body. He 
died—respected by all, one of the foremost statesmen of the 
age. 

It is not the design, nor is it the province, of this volume to 
criticize political factions or their principles. Parties, like the 
men composing them, are necessarily fallible ; they have their 

* Upon the termination of the exercises it is also usual, "as a further mark of re¬ 
spect," to adjourn for the day. 


160 AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 

virtues—they have also imperfections. Good, upright citi¬ 
zens entertain opposite political views ; and the man of hon¬ 
est convictions, with the courage to express them—although 
we may think them erroneous—is always entitled to our 
respect. 

But a politician is one thing—a statesman is another. The 
former will favor any party in order to gain personal advantage ; 
the latter will oppose all parties in the maintenance of what he 
conceives to be right. And it was because Charles Sumner 
was a statesman that honorable men of all shades of opinion 
joined in honoring his memory, by testifying to the purity of 
his motives and the exalted dignity of his life. The sincer¬ 
ity of his convictions none could question ; and those famil¬ 
iar with the perils and the opposition he had encountered 
in their utterance best understood the moral grandeur of his 
character. 

The day on which he took the oath as Senator was the 1st of 
December, 1851, and he was snubbed at the very threshold of 
his duties. He was a member of neither of the two great political 
parties then struggling for supremacy; and was, accordingly, 
refused a place on any committee, for the reason that he “ be¬ 
longed to no healthy political organization.” At that time 
slavery was one of the “ institutions ” of America, and he went 
to the Senate determined on its destruction. His enemies 
knew this, and for weeks and months they prevented him from 
speaking. 

On August 26, 1852, during the closing days of that session, 
a general appropriation bill came up for consideration. Among 
its clauses was a provision for meeting certain “ extraordinary ” 
judicial expenses. Translated, that term meant, expenses in¬ 
curred in the capture and return to their owners of run-away 
slaves, under what was known as the Fugitive Slave Act . 
Charles Sumner’s moment had at length arrived. He arose, 


A VACANT CHAIR. 


161 

and sent to the Clerk’s desk an amendment to the section—to 
repeal and declare null and void the law for whose execution 
the appropriation was designed. He then took the floor. Let 
me tell you how he began : 

“ And now, at last, among these final crowded days of our 
duties here, but at this earliest opportunity, I am to be heard ; 
not as a favor , but as a right. The graceful usages of this 
body may be abandoned, but the established privileges of de¬ 
bate cannot be abridged. Parliamentary courtesy may be for¬ 
gotten, but parliamentary law must prevail. The subject is 
broadly before the Senate. By the blessing of God, it shall be 
discussed ! ” 

And it was discussed ! For three hours and a quarter, 
while enemies scowled and uttered imprecations behind his 
back and others glared him in the face, he championed the 
cause of the oppressed and denounced the infamy of the enact¬ 
ment. When he had concluded, he was assailed by the coars¬ 
est of insults—insults which only two of his associates took oc¬ 
casion to discountenance or rebuke. His amendment was lost. 
Forty-seven Senators voted against it ; only four voted in its 
favor. Those four were memorable men—Salmon P. Chase, 
John P. Hale, Charles Sumner, and Benjamin F. Wade. 

That speech (as Senator Chase then predicted) marked an 
era in American history. But I refer to it as containing one 
of the noblest declarations ever uttered in legislative halls : 

“ I HAVE NEVER BEEN A POLITICIAN. THE SLAVE OF 
PRINCIPLES, I CALL NO PARTY MASTER.” 

The triumph of those principles he lived to see ; and the 
tribute paid to his memory by his honored friend and associate 
was as just as it is eloquent: “His eulogy is his life; his 
epitaph is the general grief ; his monument, builded by his own 
hands, is the eternal statutes of freedom.” 

A friend of humanity, his policy was peace, and the settle- 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


162 

ment of disputes between nations by arbitration instead of by 
the sword was one of his fondest dreams. Possessed of such 
benign and noble sentiments, on the 2d of December, 1872, he 
introduced a bill which he requested to have “ read in full for 
information.” I shall give it here, for to carry it to the desk 
was one of my first acts as a page. It was as follows : 

A BILL to regulate the Army Register and the Regimental Colors of 
the United States. 

Whereas, the national unity and good-will among fellow-citizens 
can be assured only through oblivion of past differences, and it is contrary 
to the usage of civilized nations to perpetuate the memory of civil war : 
Therefore, 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled , That the names of battles with 
fellow-citizens shall not be continued in the Army Register or placed on 
the regimental colors of the United States. 

The bill was ordered to be printed, and that was the end of 
its pilgrimage in Congress. It never became a law. But it 
was discussed elsewhere. The legislature of Massachusetts 
heard of it, and shook with indignation. The act of Senator 
Sumner was stigmatized as “ an attempt to degrade the loyal 
soldiery of the Union and their grand achievements;” and a 
resolution of censure was introduced and passed. The men 
who voted for that resolution could not have known their 
Senator well. Charles Sumner insult a Union soldier ! His 
whole life was a refutation of the charge ! 

One little incident may be told. A page once brought 
to the Senator an application of an old man for office, and 
asked him if he would endorse it. Mr. Sumner did not know 
the applicant, and told the page that he thought his name 
would have no influence, and that (because of his relations with 
the Administration) he preferred not to endorse the paper. 


A VACANT CHAIR. 


163 


The page still insisted, and the Senator was finally obliged to 
firmly but gently decline. The boy slowly retired, mur¬ 
muring : “I am very sorry, Senator; he is an old soldier-” 

“ A soldier, did you say, my child? Come back ! ” cried the 
Senator ; and, taking the paper from the page’s hand, he wrote 
upon it a lengthy endorsement. What became of the applica¬ 
tion, I do not know ; if it failed, it could not have been for 
want of fervent commendation. 

The resolution of censure was an injustice which would 
have provoked some men to wrath. But with Mr. Sumner it 
was otherwise—not anger, but grief. He had served his State 
for more than twenty years, and she had stood proudly by him 
in all his efforts. That she should now, after his long and 
faithful career, misinterpret his motives, withdraw her confi¬ 
dence, and brand him with reproach, was perhaps the heaviest 
blow he ever sustained. Its effect upon him was visible not 
only to friends but to strangers. His manner betrayed that 
it bore upon his mind. Yet that session wore away and De¬ 
cember, 1873, appeared, and the Senator was again found at 
his seat on the opening day, this time to introduce his famous 
Civil Rights Bill—the first bill of the session. But as the days 
slipped by, his face was less frequently seen in the Senate. 
December, January, February passed—his visits were few and 
brief. 

On the 10th of March, however, he was in attendance. I re¬ 
member it well. I had not seen him for quite a while, and he 
called me to his chair. I thought he looked more cheerful than 
usual, and asked after his health. As he whittled the end of his 
penholder, he smilingly chatted with me, and stated that he had 
come to the Senate to hear pleasant news. Scarcely had he 
made the remark, when Mr. Boutwell, his colleague, arose and 
sent up to the Clerk’s desk to be read a resolution of the Massa¬ 
chusetts legislature. As the Clerk proceeded, all eyes turned 



] 64 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


upon Senator Sumner, who was eagerly listening. It was a 
resolution rescinding the vote of censure ! 

Shortly after the reading, the Senator left the Chamber, and 
as I parted from him at the door, he shook hands and said, 
“ Good-by ! ” It was his last word to me. The next day he 
was dead! 


CHAPTER XX. 


OBSTRUCTION. 

In all enlightened Governments are found numerous restric¬ 
tions upon the power of superior numbers, who, without these 
restraints, might utterly disregard the rights of their weaker 
opponents. These checks are not based upon mere senti¬ 
ments of chivalry and magnanimity—they are founded upon 
the loftier rule of justice. Their object is to protect “ the rights 
of minorities ; ” and this protection'is, in one regard, peculiarly 
afforded by the Constitution of the United States. 

The sixty millions of people who constitute this nation are 
people of all classes and conditions, and with varied and (in 
many respects) conflicting interests and views ; and it is but 
proper, and in accordance with our republican system, that 
these various classes shall be represented in the administration 
of their common Government. It is because there is not per¬ 
fect harmony of interests and views upon the part of the peo¬ 
ple that differences and dissensions occur among their repre¬ 
sentatives in Congress. 

There is no absolute protection for the minority in mere 
“rules of proceedings,” for rules can be suspended, modified, 
or amended at any time by the majority of the body that has 
established them, and thus a large majority might ride rough¬ 
shod over the interests of the minority. Although the stand¬ 
ing rules of each House are supposed to provide for the ex¬ 
pression of all shades of opinion concerning a matter under 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


166 

discussion, the majority of each House, when pressed for time, 
or in other emergencies, and when deemed expedient in order 
to ensure or facilitate the legislation which they desire enacted, 
destroy even these “ standing rules” by adopting certain tem¬ 
porary orders. In such a predicament, when a measure objec¬ 
tionable to the minority is brought forward and is attempted 
to be put through by the majority in power, the minority have 
but one recourse—to fight it by motions and arguments intend¬ 
ed solely to cause delay and consume time, and by thus reduc¬ 
ing the struggle to a question of mere physical endurance, to 
wear out their opponents and force them to abandon the at¬ 
tempt, or continue the fight until the hour of twelve o’clock 
strikes on the 4th of March and sounds the death-knell of the 
Congress and of all the measures which belonged to it. These 
dilatory tactics are known in the technical language (or rather 
“ slang ”) of parliamentary procedure as “ filibustering.” 

When the “ filibusters,” or, as they are styled by their more 
dignified antagonists, “ obstructionists,” think proper to adopt 
this line of action, resort is had to various artifices. 

The chief rules that are singled out and utilized for filibus¬ 
tering purposes are those respecting adjournment. Naturally, 
the primary object of a filibustering movement, if it is evident 
that the majority intend to push the measure to a final vote, is 
to terminate the proceedings by an adjournment for the day, 
and then do the same thing over again should the effort be con¬ 
tinued upon re-assembling. Now, it is manifestly proper that 
the majority should always have it within their power to termi¬ 
nate their sessions whenever they see fit, as otherwise they 
would be at the mercy of the minority. Hence it is that the 
motion to adjourn takes precedence over all other motions, and 
is always in order—except, of course, when a vote is being 
taken or when a speaker has the floor and refuses to be inter¬ 
rupted, in which two cases no motion can be entertained. But 


OBSTRUCTION. 


1 67 


if a motion is made to adjourn and is defeated, “ some other 
business must intervene ” before it can be renewed. Next to a 
motion “to adjourn ” in order of precedence, during the pen¬ 
dency of a question, come motions “to take a recess,” “to 
proceed to the consideration of executive business,” “ to lay 
on the table,” etc. The way these motions are used in filibus¬ 
tering would be somewhat as follows : 

Suppose it is five o’clock on Monday afternoon, and that 
filibustering is going on in the Senate. A Senator belonging 
to the minority moves to adjourn. The majority, of course, 
are bent on reaching a final vote on the pending question, and 
are determined to “ sit it out.” By force of greater numbers, 
they promptly defeat the motion. Then the same or another 
obstructionist moves to take a recess until seven o’clock. This 
is also defeated. Then the minority move again to adjourn. 
Also defeated. Then a motion is made to do something else— 
perhaps to go into executive session (although there may not 
be any executive business on hand !) or to adjourn to Wednes¬ 
day, or take a recess until eight o’clock that evening.* Any or 
all of these motions are made and defeated. The motion to ad¬ 
journ is renewed with the same result, then comes the motion 
for recess (lost), then to adjourn (also lost), to take a recess, to 
adjourn, to take a recess, to adjourn, to take a recess, to ad¬ 
journ—that is the way it goes, just as persistently as the pro 
forma amendment; and that’s filibustering ! 

* They had an unusual amount of filibustering in the House of Representatives in 
1885, wasting day after day of valuable time. Both parties were very stubborn, but the 
minority finally prolonged the matter so near to the 4th of March that the majority had 
to “ give in.” One evening, among a goodly number of other filibustering motions, it 
was moved to take a recess until a certain hour that night—say twelve o’clock. A 
“ Call of the House ” for a quorum, or some other matter that intervened, consumed 
the better part of the night without a vote being taken on the motion, and the curious 
spectacle was presented of the members of the House, at two o’clock in the morning, 
deliberating whether they should take a recess until twelve o’clock that night—that is, 
go back and take a recess until two hours before / 


68 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


A motion to adjourn, or to take a recess, or to proceed to 
executive business, or to lay a matter on the table is not de¬ 
batable. Accordingly, when such a motion is made, a vote 
must be taken upon it at once ; and, if decided by a simple 
viva voce vote, which does not take a minute, no advantage is 
gained, and the minority would soon tire thetnselves instead of 
their opponents by making motions every other minute or so. 
This would never do, of course, for if the majority will not 
consent to any of these dilatory motions, the great point then 
is to waste time. This is accomplished either by making some 
motion that is debatable, or by the way in which the vote is 
taken. 

There are different modes of taking a vote. First and sim¬ 
plest, there is the viva voce vote. Suppose a motion is made 
to adjourn ; the presiding officer stands up and puts the question 
thus : “ The Senator from North Carolina moves that the Sen¬ 
ate do now adjourn. Those in favor of the motion will say 
‘ aye ’; ” and then he pauses for a moment while the minority 
respond, after which he continues : “ Those opposed will say 
‘ no ’; ” whereupon the majority instantly thunder forth their 
vote, and the presiding officer, without taking breath, concludes : 
“ The c Noes’ have it, and the Senate refuses to adjourn.” 

A second way of voting is by “ division ” or “ count,” and 
if demanded, the presiding officer says : “ Senators in favor of 
the motion that the Senate do now adjourn, will rise and stand 
until counted,” and then he takes his seat for a moment while 
the Clerk takes a lead-pencil and slowly points at the Senators 
* standing, and announces the number to the Chair, who says: 
“ The ‘ Ayes ’ will be seated, and the ‘ Noes ’ will rise.” There¬ 
upon those opposed are counted, and the vote is then an¬ 
nounced. In the House, the Speaker does the counting. He 
grasps the mallet-end of his gavel, and rapidly shakes the handle 
at the throng. It used to delight me to watch Speaker Blaine 


OBSTRUCTION. 


169 


go through that performance. He could move the gavel as 
fast as a sleight-of-hand man. Of course the Speaker endeavors 
to count only members of the House, but in the confusion and 
rapid counting, he is liable to count other persons whom he ob¬ 
serves standing, without looking to see who they are, and we 
pages took advantage of such times to distinguish ourselves. 
I have often been in the House, with a troop of Senate-pages, 
all bent upon fun or mischief; and during a count, when every¬ 
thing was in disorder, we would jump up on vacant chairs or 
other articles of furniture to render us as tall as men, and thus 
ensure our being counted in the vote. I have no doubt I have 
thus helped to decide many important questions of interest to 
the American people. I may mention that we also often voted 
in the Senate. When the Senate remained in session until late 
at night, or even during the afternoon when we were tired out, 
we many a time voted “ aye ” on a viva voce vote to ad¬ 
journ and thus increased the noise. And we considered such 
conduct not only justifiable, but really praiseworthy, believing 
that, inasmuch as by parliamentary rule a motion to adjourn 
was always in order , it necessarily and logically followed that it 
was always time to adjourn. 

A third way of voting, often followed in the House, is by 
“ tellers.” A demand for tellers being supported by a sufficient 
number of members, the Speaker appoints two of the Represen¬ 
tatives (generally the member making the demand and the mem¬ 
ber leading the Opposition), and they walk from their seats to 
the “ area of freedom ” in front of the desk and shake hands. 
This hand-shaking is always gone through with, although a few 
moments before the members designated for it may have been 
rather angry at each other. Then the Speaker notifies the mem¬ 
bers in favor of the motion to “ pass between the tellers and be 
counted ; ” whereupon the minority (for I am assuming that all 
fhis voting is pure filibustering) swarm down the aisles leading 


170 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


from their seats and mass themselves around the tellers, who 
hurry them through, one at a time, giving each one a tap on 
the back as he passes through, by way of keeping the tally, the 
members passing between them surging up the centre aisle, or 
crowding around the tellers and returning to their seats the 
shortest way. Then those opposed to the motion pass between 
and are counted, and the tellers report the result to the Speaker, 
who in turn announces it to the House. 

The first two of these methods are common to both bodies,* 
and the third is peculiar to the House alone. This last mode 
necessarily consumes considerable time, but the other methods 
are comparatively brief. But the Constitution puts into the 
hands of the filibusters still another formidable weapon—“the 
demand for the ‘ Yeas and Nays ’ ! ” f 

When the “Yeas and Nays” are demanded, the presiding 
officer of the Senate generally says : “ The ‘ Yeas and Nays 9 are 
demanded ; is there a second ? ” and the Senators as a rule raise 
their hands in such numbers that the Chair goes on to say : 
“A sufficient number up, and the‘Yeas and Nays’are or¬ 
dered.” Then he rises from his seat and says : “ Senators, 
those of you who are in favor of the motion that the Senate do 
now adjourn will, as your names are called, say ‘ aye ’ ; those 
opposed will answer * no and the Secretary will call the roll.” 
In the House, the members rise upon the question of taking the 
vote by “ Yeas and Nays,” and are counted ; whereupon the 
Speaker goes through a similar announcement, always conclud- 

* Another way of voting is by " ballot,” but it is resorted to only on exceptional 
occasions, such as in choosing a President pro tempore of the Senate, etc. When 
this is done in the Senate, Captain Bassett and Mr. Christie take the ballot-boxes 
kept under the Vice-President’s desk, and pass them around among the Senators sit¬ 
ting in their seats, each of whom deposits a little folded slip of paper on which he has 
written the name of the nominee of his choice. 

t “ The yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the 
desire of one-fifth of those present , be entered on the Journal.” Constitution, Art. I., 
Sec. v., cl. 3. 


OBSTRUCTION . 


171 


ing with the dreary words—words that call up hideous visions 
before the eyes of sleepy clerks and pages !—“And the Clerk 
will call the roll! ” 



An Energetic Filibuster. 


We had some memorable filibustering in my day. On the 
night of May 22, 1874, a great contest in the Senate over the 





























172 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Civil Rights Bill culminated in twenty hours of work ! The 
majority had determined that they would “ sit the bill out that 
night. So they assembled in force, ready to pass it whenever 
they might see their chance. The minority were also on hand. 
Both sides were nearly exhausted. As the hands of the clock 
approached the hour of midnight, there was scarcely a Senator 
in the room. I remember that Senator Merrimon led the mi¬ 
nority ; Senator Logan “ watched ” for the majority. Senator 
Merrimon had the floor, with the unlimited privilege of contin¬ 
uous debate permitted by the rules, and he seemed prepared 
to talk forever. But occasionally he paused to allow another 
member of the minority to make a motion to adjourn, upon 
which the “Yeas and Nays” would be ordered—“And the 
Secretary will call the roll! ” 

Those words were the signal for action. “ Call up the Sen¬ 
ators ! ” cried Senator Logan ; “ Call up the Senators ! ” came 
from Senator Merrimon ; and off we went. Well, we called 
them up—and they voted ! Then Senator Merrimon resumed 
his speech. After talking for a while, to give his opponents 
time to disappear and get to sleep, he stopped speaking, and 
yielded to another of the minority to move an adjournment. 

“ Call up the Senators ! ” shouted both sides ; “ Call up the 
Senators ! ” echoed Captain Bassett. This is how we pages 
called them. Each of us would rush around through the vari¬ 
ous rooms, and give one of these sleeping Senators a little tap, 
shouting, “ Yeas and Nays ! ” and dart away to find another. 
Sometimes a dozen pages would waken the same Senator. In 
fact, we usually ran in a line—all together. 

Soon the sleepy legislators could be seen creeping into 
the Chamber from all directions, half awake, with dishevelled 
hair, and presenting a woe-begone appearance generally. They 
would mechanically cast their votes, the motion to adjourn 
would be lost, Senator Merrimon would resume his speech, and 


OBSTRUCTION. 


73 


the other Senators, except the “ watchers,” would again vanish 
as mysteriously and as noiselessly as the soldiers of Roderick 
Dhu. 

During all this speech-making, most of the minority were 
asleep. They depended upon Senator Merrimon (as most of 
the majority depended upon Senator Logan and their other 
leaders) to wake them at the proper time. They relied upon 
him to do all the talking. He was, as I say, prepared to do it. 
But he made a mistake. He remembered the courtesy, but he 
forgot the rules, of the Senate. He had been yielding the floor 
to his friends whenever he saw fit, and resuming it again after 
they had said whatever they wished. Senator Logan at last 
interfered. He raised the “ point of order” that the Senator 
from North Carolina could not speak “more than twice” on 
the matter then pending. Senator Merrimon stood aghast ! 
The presiding officer sustained the point of order. 

That is where the demoralization of the minority seemed to 
begin. At ten minutes past seven o’clock A.M. the majority 
passed the bill ! 

How would you like to be a filibuster ? 


CHAPTER XXI. 


NIGHT-SESSION INFORMALITIES. 

So far as the personal preferences of the pages were con¬ 
cerned, night-sessions were our happy hours. It was then that 
our propensities for mischief obtained full play. During the 
waning weeks of a session, when resort was had to evening 
work, it was customary for the Senate, late in the afternoon, to 
take a recess, long enough to afford its members and officers an 
opportunity to bolt their dinners and enjoy a temporary rest. 

Upon re-assembling after this recess, the Senate would pro¬ 
ceed with its ordinary business of legislation in excellent style. 
If, as was probable, the House was also in session, the whole 
Capitol was illuminated, and, as people could not see the flags, 
a light would be placed in the dome to indicate that Congress 
was at work. This was a grand sight to a person at a distance. 
The huge edifice loomed boldly against the evening sky, and 
shone out in the darkness like a celestial castle, with a splendor 
that could be seen for miles around. And within the building 
the scene was still more beautiful—it was brilliant—yes, enchant¬ 
ing, and reminded me of the scenes in fairy-land, of which I had 
so often read in my younger days. 

For the first few hours everyone would realize the roman¬ 
tic beauty of the occasion. Visitors, attracted by curiosity or 
bent on amusement, would crowd the great building, and the 
Senators, feeling the exhilarating influence of the scene, would 
move about the Chamber with a remarkable buoyancy of step 


NIGHT-SESSION INFORMALITIES. 175 

and seem, for the time-being, to have regained the activity of 
youth. 

By midnight, however, there would come a change—a 
change more to our fancy. The visitors, having “seen the 
show,” would return to their homes, and leave the galleries to a 
few idle “owls,” as we called the late stayers. The Senators 
would gradually grow more and more drowsy, and retire one 
by one to the cloak-rooms, committee-rooms, or wherever else 
they could find unoccupied sofas, in the effort to catch a 
moment’s rest. From this time forward our chief duty was to 
seek out, arouse, and summon the Senators when wanted. 

As the night advanced we began our practical jokes, of 
which we had a choice variety. When the House-pages were 
about, we combined our ingenious talents and roamed the 
Capitol from one end to the other in search of prey. Although, 
ordinarily, we looked upon one another as enemies, whenever 
it came down to mischief we were the warmest friends. 

Our most formidable and dreaded instruments of torture 
were mucilage and ink. If we caught one of our number 
asleep, we treated him with severity as a punishment for his 
neglect of duty. One night I was so tired that I could no 
longer keep my eyes open, and I sank upon a sofa in the mar¬ 
ble room. When I awoke, I found that a Senator had crawled 
upon the sofa between me and the wall, and I saw about the 
room, on the sofas, in the chairs, on the rugs, and on the cold, 
paved floor, Senators, officers, and others, jumbled together in # 
every conceivable shape—a grotesque and motley crowd !—all 
in the Land of Nod. I judged from the appearance of some 
of these sleepers, and from the sensation of my own face, that 
a band of decorators had passed through the room, and rushed 
to the mirror at once. My worst fears were confirmed. I was 
inked over in spots like a leopard, while the mucilage had been 
applied so freely and had dried so “ nicely,” that it peeled off 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


1 76 

my face like sheets of mica. Vowing vengeance, I armed myself 
with a bottle of mucilage and started in pursuit. I soon came 
up with the vandals ; but seeing from the number that hostilities 
would be useless, I made a treaty of alliance and joined them in 
their tour. 

After paying our compliments to the Senate side of the Cap¬ 
itol, we would go to the House of Representatives. On one of 
these rambles we procured the key to a committee-room where 
we found two of the House-pages, who had gone there for se¬ 
curity, locked in each other’s arms and the arms of Morpheus. 
We frescoed them artistically, of course ; and when we had 
completed our work of ornamentation, their own mothers would 
not have recognized them. On our return we went through 
the cloak-rooms of the House, hiding the hats and canes of the 
members and otherwise enjoying ourselves. 

And we had even more distinguished allies than the House- 
pages. Frequently Senators have met us on our travels, and 
informed us where we could find a victim. As a reward for 
such kindness, we made it a point never to seriously molest 
the countenance of a sleeping Senator ; the most we ever did 
in that direction was to give him a dash or two of mucilage that 
caused him to feel funny when he awoke and tried to wrin¬ 
kle his face. Perhaps the less said on this subject, the better. 

Many of our pranks, however, were mild. If we put torpe¬ 
does under the gavel, they had no other effect than to make 
the Vice-President jump, and if we “ inadvertently” dropped 
salt instead of sugar into a glass of lemonade, the Senator for 
whom it was intended did not, as a rule, discover the fact until 
he had drained the glass to the dregs and the page had disap¬ 
peared from sight. 

Our best fun began after the adjournment of the Senate late 
at night. Instead of going to our homes, we obtained the keys 
to the cloak-rooms or the committee-rooms, and remained at 


NIGHT-SESSION INFORMALITIES. 


177 


the Capitol until morning. But not to sleep. That would have 
been impossible. We were veritable “ imps of darkness,” and 
as soon as the corridors were deserted and the lights extin¬ 
guished, we came forth from our hiding-places. 

At times we would move through the halls softly, like 
ghouls ; at others, as the fancy seized us, we would rend the 
air with discordant shrieks. On one of these expeditions we 
made so hideous a din that some of the Senators, who were 
holding a conference-meeting in a committee-room, requested 
the police to arrest us. After considerable difficulty the officers 
succeeded in capturing a few of the pages and put them in a 
room which went by the expressive name of “ the lock-up.” 
But the uncaptured pages continued to shout; our imprisoned 
comrades howled more vigorously than before ; and the natural 
result was that the Senators, finding that they had not bettered 
their own condition, sent word to have the prisoners released. 

There was one page, named Arthur, who hailed from the 
same State as myself, and was known as my “ colleague.” 
Though older in years, he was my junior in length of service. 
In other words, I was the “ senior Senator from New York ; ” 
and he treated me with proper deference, consulting me upon 
all important matters. He was more or less romantic, and 
thought that it would be an adventure worth boasting of to 
spend a night on the dome of the Capitol. So one warm day 
in summer he came to me and broached his plans. But there 
was one difficulty in the way of their accomplishment that 
seemed almost insurmountable. The doors leading to the 
dome were locked every evening (the police having first re¬ 
quired all visitors to descend) and not re-opened until the 
morning of the next day. 

When I told Arthur that I could obtain the keys, he was so 
delighted that he said : “ Well, if you will get them, I will set 
up a banquet fit for a king.” Then after a pause, as if he had 

12 


1/8 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


received a sudden inspiration, he exclaimed : “ Yes ; we shall 
have a banquet, and eat it on the dome. The very thing ! ” 
And he went into raptures over the prospect, and urged me to 
go about the matter at once, and also to invite a reasonable 
number of friends to join in our undertaking. 

We decided to have our banquet that same night, after the 
adjournment of the Senate ; and at the appointed time I ap¬ 
peared at the rendezvous, where Arthur and the other pages 
were impatiently awaiting me. The jingling of the keys 
sounded like music to their ears. Arthur, in the meantime, 
had procured from a caterer a sumptuous repast ; and, thus 
equipped, we cautiously approached the entrance to the dome 
and soon had opened the door. Without locking it behind us 
(a fortunate oversight, as events proved !), we began the ascent 
of the long and intricate stairs in a joyous procession. I led 
the way to open the doors, holding, besides the keys, a taper 
to light our path ; then came Arthur, carrying a heavy basket, 
while the other pages followed on, each with his arms full of 
precious packages. 

Reaching the dome in safety, we deposited our bundles, 
and were all duly impressed by the scene before us. Hundreds 
of feet below lay the city of Washington, with its myriad of 
twinkling lights. Around its boundaries ran the waters of the 
Potomac, forming a silvery path that led our gaze toward the 
south, where the eye could catch the glimmer of the ancient 
village of Alexandria and the dark outlines of the hills of Mary¬ 
land. It was a calm, pleasant, beautiful night! The stars 
were doing as well as could be expected of such tiny things, 
and the moon was riding through the heavens with her custom¬ 
ary grace—now hiding behind one of the few clouds that, with 
the best intentions, had come out to help her in her vigil—now 
emerging into the clear blue of the sky like—like- 

But just here we missed Arthur. I walked around to the 


NIGHT-SESSION INFORMALITIES. 


179 


opposite side of the dome, and there I found him, staring into 
vacancy—by which I mean, staring heavenward with a look of 
profound contemplation worthy of an aesthete. I did not dis¬ 
turb him, but came back and told my companions that he was 
safe. Then George, who was chronically hungry, remarked 
that it was a good time to attack the bundles. We instantly 
began to act upon the suggestion, and devoured the luxuries 
with marvellous avidity. This interesting proceeding lasted 
quite a time. As the last hamper was emptied and the last 
crumb was disposed of, we heard Arthur’s footsteps. Without 
a word, without a signal, we instinctively fled through the door 
and down the stairs, and in a few moments we heard him follow¬ 
ing us, screaming at the top of his voice. It was an exciting 
and dangerous flight; yet on we went through the darkness, 
the iron steps thundering beneath our feet, the vaulted pas¬ 
sages echoing the noise, and the vast rotunda hurling it back 
with tenfold rage and horror! But we made the descent in 
safety, and just as we reached the corridor, Arthur burst 
through the quivering doors, empty basket in hand ! 

To detail our many escapades would be a very difficult task. 
We would take up the registers in the cloak-rooms and crawl 
all about, through the ventilating flues, under the floor of the 
Senate-chamber, among pipes and other heating and light¬ 
ing contrivances that, like net work, ran in every direction, 
looking for—no one knew what ! The fact that we were in 
utter darkness and that there was an air-well into which we 
might fall and break our necks, added to the pleasure of such 
an excursion. With us it was as with Fitz-James, for 

If a path be dangerous known, 

The danger’s self is lure alone. 

We had an ambition to go where no one else had ever 
been ; and, with this laudable motive, we extended our ex- 


8 o 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


plorations through every opening in the building, whether in 
the subterranean caverns far below, or in any secret recesses 
upon the roof which the genius and tender foresight of the ar¬ 
chitect had left sufficiently large to permit the introduction of 
a human head. And whenever a boy’s head went through, he 
soon managed to pull the body after it. 

Once we crawled into the pneumatic tube, constructed for 
the purpose of transmitting documents to the Government 
Printing-office, a half-mile distant; and having crept like an 
army of snakes, for several hundred feet, backed out again— 
the tube being hardly wide enough to permit our passage, 
much less our turning around. We derived immense satisfac¬ 
tion from this exploit. This satisfaction was increased when 
the engineer informed us, as we emerged begrimed with dust, 
that in another instant we would have been annihilated by the 
ball that, filled with documents, was shot with lightning veloc¬ 
ity from the farther end. This may have been true, or it may 
have been said to deter us from such deeds. At any rate, we 
frequently repeated the adventure. 

Our rovings were often rewarded by finding rooms and ar¬ 
ticles the existence of which few about the building knew or 
suspected. In the large room of pillars immediately above the 
crypt, there was a trap-door. Once, opening this, we de¬ 
scended an old stone staircase, and, reaching the bottom, soon 
found ourselves in a circular room, damp and cold, and nearly 
filled with broken statuary of every description—statesmen, 
griffins, lions, and other images. The flickerings of our lights 
against these marble figures produced a ghastly effect that 
threw us into an ecstasy of bliss, and thereafter we always used 
this room as a retreat in which to conduct our midnight revels. 
It was there we also held our solemn conclaves ; and the spec¬ 
tacle of such a session, in that weird and dismal place, would 
have chilled the blood of a beholder and caused him to think 


NIGHT-SESSION INFORMALITIES. 


181 

of the terrors of the Inquisition and the fearful deliberations of 
the Council of Three ! 

We imagined, also, that a band of brigands might be lurk¬ 
ing somewhere in these secret regions; and, to frighten them 
away, we prowled through the subterranean corridors and cel¬ 
lars, shouting with all the eloquence of healthy juveniles, and 
assisting our lungs by beating on tin pans and other musical 
instruments. And although we were then down in the depths 
of the earth, where probably none but pages had ever trod (or 
would have cared to tread) since the laying of the foundations 
of the Capitol, and surrounded by massive walls of masonry, 
we made ourselves heard throughout the building ; and the 
Goddess of Liberty upon the dome, hundreds of feet above, 
must have shuddered to think of the pandemonium over which 
she was thus forced to preside ! 


CHAPTER XXII. 


INTO THE HURLY-BURLY. 

But the most interesting excursions, after all, were those to 
the “ Cave of the Winds,” where the sound-waves roar and 
rumble and dash against one another like the breakers of the 
sea, and where the moving stalagmites and eyeless fish—What’s 
that you say ? You do not know where it is ? Why, I am sur¬ 
prised ! No, it is not down in your geographies. The “ Cave 
of the Winds ” is one of the titles by which the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives is known. Perhaps it is irreverent to speak of it in 
that way; but I may say with truth that while the House of 
Representatives is undoubtedly a very important assembly, it 
is also a very noisy body. This, however, constitutes its chief 
charm to a great many sight-seers. 

Visitors to Washington who like to inhale the heavy atmos¬ 
phere of philosophy generally make a brief visit to the Senate, 
and, after thus preparing themselves, drop into the Supreme 
Court room and gratify their philosophic desires to their hearts’ 
content. There they will sit for hours and listen to the black- 
gowned judges and black-letter lawyers discussing grave ques¬ 
tions of constitutional law and quibbling over the subtleties and 
refinements of modern pleading—now engrossed in a matter 
weighty with the problems of human government and civil 
liberty, now with equal solemnity wending their way through 
a labyrinth of technicalities and forms that have come down 
from antiquity, venerable with age, to the mind of the lawyer, 


INTO THE HURLY-BURLY > 


183 


but, to the ear of the ordinary man, as bewildering and absurd 
as the everlasting fable of John Doe and Richard Roe, or the 
“special traverse with an absque hoc” But such as retain 
their youthful love of entertainment go to the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives. There is something captivating about the continu¬ 
ous buzz buzz-buzz that distinguishes that body, in so marked 
a manner, from the Senate. 

Not long ago I was in the gallery of the Senate listening 
to a very important discussion. The subject was one in which 
the average American would be supposed to take a deep in¬ 
terest. Near me sat several fellow-citizens who seemed to be 
considerably “ bored.” Finally one got up and, addressing his 
companions, said : “ Well, I’ve had enough of this. Let’s go 
over to Congress (!) and hear them talk ! ” And they went 
there—that is, to the House. I wonder what they thought the 
Senators were doing ! 

But there is no doubt about it that the Representatives do 
talk. That is the great trouble—they all seem to talk at once. 
A person should have about three hundred and twenty-five ears 
to keep track of one of their running debates. 

The babel of voices in the House is really perplexing to one 
accustomed to the serenity of the Senate. There is as much 
difference between the two bodies of Congress in this respect 
as there is between the quiet of a country church and the tur¬ 
moil of a city. If you wish to test the matter, when in Wash¬ 
ington, let me tell you how to do it. First go to the Senate, 
then walk right across to the House. Another good plan is to 
go to the House just as it is called to order. I have tried that 
experiment. As I entered the gallery the Speaker brought 
down his gavel. There was instantaneous silence. The mem¬ 
bers rose to their feet, and the Chaplain offered his prayer. 
After that, the noise broke out. Then I tried to analyze it. 

I did not succeed very well ; but there was in it a little of 


84 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


everything that makes a noise, from the little fly to the raging 
ocean. It was a buzzing, gurgling, and roaring, all combined 
in one general noise ! 

How far the title of “Cave of the Winds” is due to the 
acoustic properties of the Hall, I do not know. But I know one 
thing—the sound-waves could not clash unless put in motion. 
Now, what puts them in motion ? I shall tell you. 

The galleries contribute somewhat to this noise, but the 
members are chiefly responsible for it. 'They gather around 
the desks, or stand in the narrow aisles, or in the area behind 
the outer row of seats, and discuss, in knots of from three to a 
dozen or more, some interesting question of politics, or possibly 
narrate funny anecdotes. And it is a very usual sight to see 
one of the Representatives making a “ spread-eagle” speech, 
beating the air with his arms and shouting vehemently away, 
and not one of his three hundred and twenty-four associates 
showing the least interest in what he is saying. Of course, 
everything that is said by such a speaker is taken down by the 
reporters, so that the other members do not lose anything by 
not listening. Frequently a Congressman does not go to the 
trouble of delivering a speech, but writes it out and then ob¬ 
tains leave of the House to have it printed in the Record , where 
it can be seen by those who may be sufficiently interested to 
read it. 

Sometimes, however, a member thinks that he would at 
least like the privilege of hearing himself talk, and becomes an¬ 
noyed by the excessive confusion in the Hall. Then the Speaker 
will command order and exert all the muscles of his good right 
arm in beating with the hammer. But often the other mem¬ 
bers persist in their conversation, notwithstanding the Speaker’s 
cry of “ Order !” each group of culprits feeling that it is not 
making much noise and ignoring the fact that every whisper 
adds to the objectionable disturbance. Under these circum- 


INTO THE HURLY-BURLY. 


185 


stances it often becomes necessary for the Speaker to take ex¬ 
treme measures ; and the most effective way to secure quiet is 



“ Everyone Retreats before the Symbol of Authority, and Retires to His Proper Place.” 

for him to suspend the proceedings and direct the Sergeant-at- 
Arms to take the mace and force the members to take their 




















86 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


seats. When so directed by the Speaker, the Sergeant-at- Arms 
carries the mace in front of him, and, as he walks about the 
room, everyone retreats before the symbol of authority, and 
retires to his proper place. To face it would be to oppose the 
power of the House of Representatives. Silence being thus re¬ 
stored, the proceedings are resumed. It generally happens, 
however, that before you can say “ Jack Robinson ” most of the 
members are “ at it again,” engaged as deeply as ever in con¬ 
versation, and violating the injunction of their presiding officer. 
It is almost an impossibility to make three hundred men fold 
their arms like school-boys, and the Speaker hardly expects to 
do more than preserve sufficient order to enable the reporters to 
hear what is being said. 

If an entertaining speaker obtains the floor, the members 
ill cluster around his chair and clog the aisles and the area of 
eedom—only to be driven back to their seats by the Sergeant- 
t-Arms. I have seen such a crowd dispersed by the Speaker 
lalf a dozen times in an hour—but back they were sure to 
come. They are as curious as boys, and fully as impetuous. 
They do not seek to repress their emotions ; on the contrary, 
they show their anger or their pleasure in various ways and on 
slight provocation. I was in the House several years ago when 
a bill was returned to it by the President with his veto. The 
friends of the measure, having the necessary two-thirds, at 
once passed it over the veto, and they were so delighted at 
“beating the Executive” that they laughed and cheered and 
threw papers, documents, and hats into the air, while the minor¬ 
ity hissed and groaned. Such scenes are by no means infre¬ 
quent. The Senators, in that instance, perhaps thought they 
would give the House a chance to learn decorum—so they re¬ 
fused to pass the bill over the veto when it came to them. 

When it comes to the important question of voting, the 
members do not keep silence. If a “division” or “ rising ” 


INTO THE HURLY-BURLY. 


is; 


vote is ordered, you will hear them shout, “ Up ! up ! ” or, 
“ Down ! down ! ” as the case may be, to warn their friends 
what to do ; and on nearly every roll-call of the “Yeas and 
Nays ’ the Speaker is compelled to suspend proceedings and 
direct members to be seated, in order that the Clerk may hear 
the responses of the voters. 

Such a state of affairs does not always exist. I have seen 
the House of Representatives almost as quiet as the Senate. 
But that was late at night, when most of the members were 
asleep, or when there was some august ceremony going on— 
such as the counting of the electoral votes, at which time the 
Senate and House met in joint convention. The awful majesty 
of the Senators and the Senate-pages probably had a quieting 
effect upon the Representatives. 

Yet even in repose they show their easy manners. A Sen¬ 
ator, however sleepy he might be, would not even dream of 
hanging his boots to the chandelier or gas-brackets on the wall 
and taking a nap on a sofa in the Senate-chamber. He would 
retire to the cloak-room or some other secluded place. Upon 
reflection, there are no chandeliers or brackets in the Senate- 
chamber. But they have them in the House, and they use 
them, too. I have seen boots hanging up in a row like Christ¬ 
mas stockings, with the owners sleeping peacefully under them 
in full view of the visiting public, while bad House-pages, from 
the gallery, dangled burnt corks attached to strings over the 
faces of the dozing legislators. 

Neither would a Senator doff his coat and walk about the 
room with an iced towel to his head, no matter how oppressive 
the heat of the midnight air. But I have seen such things in the 
House. Neither would a Senator be likely to take the Vice- 
President’s chair during a recess and preside over a mock ses¬ 
sion of the other Senators. But I have seen that done in the 
House. Neither would the presiding officer, during a lull in the 


88 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


proceedings of the real Senate, lean back in his seat and talk 
with the newspaper reporters in the gallery above. But I have 
witnessed such performances during night-sessions of the Lower 
House.* Neither would the Senators, during another lull in 
the proceedings, join lustily in the tune of “John Brown’s 
Body” or “ Finnigan’s Wake.” Yet I have heard the House 
shouting these and other lively songs, in the early hours of the 
morning. Indeed, so well known are the boyish propensities 
of the Representatives, that their Speaker recently found it 
necessary to caution them, when about to enter upon an even¬ 
ing session, not to disgrace the country and themselves by un¬ 
becoming conduct ! 

But I will tell you more in regard to the differences between 
the two Houses anon. The design of this chapter was merely 
to point out one feature of dissimilarity—the noise. In fact, the 
uproar is almost incessant. It may stop for a moment—but 
only to swell out again louder than before. When nothing is 
being done, it is “ very, very bad ; ” when something is being 
done, it is “horrid!” By “nothing being done” I mean 
nothing apparent in the shape of legislation. Some folks, you 
know, do not believe in a state less than nothing—as degrees 
below zero, or the negative quantities in algebra, like “ — x ; ” 
and this causes a witty editor to remark that such sceptics 
ought to have watched the proceedings of the last Congress. 
But I think editors should not joke about the House in that 
fashion—don’t you ? 

* It is proper to say that I never saw the Speaker himself do this ; but I have seen it 
done by members whom the Speaker has called to the chair to act in his absence. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


A REGAL AFFAIR. 

I was present in the House, by the way, on one entirely 
novel occasion. After the filibustering on the Civil Rights Bill, 
no ceremony or event of special significance, so far as I remem¬ 
ber, disturbed the ordinary routine of legislation of either 
body, and the first regular session of the Forty-third Con¬ 
gress came to an end, in pursuance of a concurrent resolution, 
agreed upon by both Houses, on the 23d of June, 1874. On 
the 7th of December, 1874, the second session began, and 
within a few days we were brought face to face with the unique 
affair it now becomes my duty to record. 

In that year the King of the Sandwich Islands visited this 
country. The dominion of that monarch is not very exten¬ 
sive ; still, he was regarded as a distinguished personage, and 
both Houses of Congress determined to accord him a reception. 
On December 14th, at the instance of Senator Cameron, Chair¬ 
man of the Committee on Foreign Relations, a concurrent reso¬ 
lution was adopted by the Senate in this form : 

Resolved by the Senate [the House of Representatives concurring ), That 
a joint committee of two from the Senate and three from the House of 
Representatives be appointed by the Presiding Officers of the respective 
Houses to take measures for the proper notice of the presence at the 
capita] of His Majesty Kalakaua, the King of the Hawaiian Islands. 

On December 17th, the House having meanwhile concurred 
in the resolution, and the committee having been appointed, 


190 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


Senator Cameron reported to the Senate that the committee 
had called upon His Majesty and invited him to visit the Capi¬ 
tol on the next day (Friday, the 18th), and that the invitation 
had been accepted. The programme arranged by the commit¬ 
tee was brief and simple : 

The Senate and House will receive King Kalakaua, at a quarter after 
twelve o’clock on Friday next, in the Hall of the House of Representatives. 
The Vice-President of the United States and the Speaker of the House 
will preside. Senator Cameron, chairman of the joint committee on re¬ 
ception, will present the King, and the Speaker of the House will welcome 
him. 

On the following day, in accordance with this arrangement, 
the Senate, immediately upon assembling, took a recess until 
one o’clock, and the Senators strolled into the President’s 
room where the King was holding an informal reception. This 
private hand-shaking over, the Senate as a body marched to the 
Hall of the House. It goes without saying that the Capitol 
was crowded with visitors. Indeed, the crush blocked the cor¬ 
ridors, and many ladies could not get even to the stairways 
leading to the galleries. A member of the House, learning of 
this painful fact, moved that they be admitted into the Hall, a 
courtesy which was unanimously extended. 

Exactly at a quarter past twelve, the Doorkeeper of the 
House announced the presence of the Senate, and, as the Repre¬ 
sentatives rose according to custom, the Senators and pages 
proceeded to the places reserved for them, and Vice-President 
Wilson took the chair by the side of the Speaker, 

Ten minutes more, and the Speaker’s gavel sounded ; the 
Senators and Representatives, obeying the injunction, rose, and 
the King and his retinue, in citizen’s dress, entered the Hall and 
marched down the centre aisle to seats placed in the area of 
freedom—His Majesty walking between Senator Cameron and 


A REGAL AFFAIR. 


191 

Representative Orth (Chairman of the House Committee on 
Foreign Affairs), the imperial attendants being escorted by 
other members of the reception committee. 

Senator Cameron, addressing the Speaker, said : “I have 
the honor to present to you His Majesty the King of the 
Hawaiian Islands.” 

Then Speaker Blaine stood up, bowed to the foreign guests, 
and said : 

** Your Majesty ! On behalf of the American Congress, I 
welcome you to these Halls. The Senators from our States 
and the Representatives of our people unite in cordial congrat¬ 
ulations upon your auspicious journey, and in the expression 
of the gratification and pleasure afforded by your presence in 
the capital of the nation, as the nation’s guest. 

“ Your Majesty’s appearance among us is the first instance 
in which a reigning sovereign has set foot upon the soil of the 
United States, and it is a significant circumstance that the visit 
comes to us from the West and not from the East. Probably 
no single event could more strikingly typify the century’s prog¬ 
ress in your Majesty’s country and in our own than the scene 
here and now transpiring. 

“ The rapid growth of the Republic on its western coast 
has greatly enlarged our intercourse with your insular king¬ 
dom, and has led us all to a knowledge of your wisdom and 
beneficence as a ruler, and your exalted virtues as a man. Our 
whole people cherish for-your subjects the most friendly re¬ 
gard. They trust and believe that the relations of the two 
countries will always be as peaceful as the great sea that rolls 
between us—uniting and not dividing ! ” 

The King, being afflicted with a severe cold and hoarseness, 
requested one of his attendants, Chief Justice Allen, of the 
Hawaiian Islands, to read his reply to the Speaker’s address, 
which Judge Allen accordingly did, in these words : 


192 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


“ Mr. Speaker : For your kind words of welcome I most 
cordially thank you. For this distinguished mark of considera¬ 
tion I tender to the honorable Senate and House of Represen¬ 
tatives my highest sentiments of regard. It is in accord with 
the very courteous and generous treatment which I have re¬ 
ceived from the Executive department of the Government, and 
from all the people whom I have had the pleasure to meet 
since I landed on the shores of the Pacific. 

“ I appreciate the complimentary terms in which the honor¬ 
able Speaker has referred to me personally. For any success 
in government and for our progress in a higher civilization we 
are very much indebted to the Government and people of this 
great country. Your laws and your civilization have been in a 
great degree our model. 

“ I reciprocate most cordially the hope for the continuance 
and growth of friendly relations between the two countries. 

“ I am most happy, gentlemen, to meet you on this occa¬ 
sion.” 

Speaker Blaine then descended from the platform and was 
personally introduced to His Majesty. After exchanging a few 
conversational remarks, he returned to the chair and rapped 
with his gavel. The Senators and Representatives again rose, 
and the King and his suite retired from the Hall. The Senate 
immediately followed, and returned to its Chamber, and Vice- 
President Wilson, calling it to order, said that if there was no 
objection the session would be considered as resumed. The 
time allowed for the recess had not expired, but as the Senators 
concurred in the suggestion of their President this slight ir¬ 
regularity was of no consequence. 

So ended the ceremony—a ceremony which naturally in¬ 
spired comparison with that of February, 1873. Then the two 
Houses met in joint convention to announce to the world the 
name of the next chief ruler of our country ; at this time, they 




The House 


7 





















































































































































































































1 



tatives at Work. 



































































































A REGAL AFFAIR. 


193 


met to welcome, in the name of our people, the newly-installed 
chief ruler of a neighboring State. And there was one other 
feature of similarity. The Senate, being again demoralized by 
its visit to the House, within a few minutes after reassem¬ 
bling adjourned—not for a day, but until the following Mon¬ 
day. The House, on the other hand, at once proceeded to the 
consideration of business, and, probably before the King had 
fairly left the precincts of the Capitol, the Representatives dis¬ 
cussed and passed a bill relating to the ravages of unfriendly 
grasshoppers. 

Whatever else may be charged against the American people, 
ingratitude and selfishness are not national characteristics. Not 
alone to kings have we opened the doors of hospitality. 

In 1824, Congress, learning that the Marquis de Lafayette 
desired to see again the land for whose independence he had 
been willing to risk his fortune and his life, asked the President 
to invite him, in the name of the nation, to visit us, and the 
President did so, offering to bring over the Marquis in a “ ship 
of the line.” Lafayette accepted the invitation, but declined 
the ship. His progress through the country, we are told, re¬ 
sembled a continuous triumphal procession ; and Congress, in 
consideration of his important services and expenditures during 
the American Revolution, voted him a grant of $200,000 and 
a township of land, which fact was gracefully communicated to 
him by a committee appointed for that purpose. He returned 
to France in one of our vessels, named in his honor the Brandy¬ 
wine ; and upon his death, Congress further testified to the 
affectionate regard of the American people by passing resolu¬ 
tions of esteem. 

In 1851, another celebrated man visited us. He was Louis 
Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot. The exiled chieftain was ten¬ 
dered a formal reception by each House of Congress on separate 
days, and again the crowd was so great in the Senate-chamber 

13 


194 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


(now the Supreme Court room), that the newspaper reporters 
voluntarily relinquished their seats in order to make room for 
the ladies. This act of gallantry was deemed so remarkable 
that special mention was made of it in the official record of de¬ 
bates. 

The law-makers also gave Kossuth an elegant banquet, 
at which Daniel Webster, General Cass, and other eminent 
statesmen made addresses. It was at this banquet that Kossuth 
delivered the speech which opened with the famous parallel be¬ 
tween the Senate of Rome and the American Congress. As 
one of the highest tributes ever paid to our Republic, it is par¬ 
donable to quote here the lines : 

Sir : As once Cineas, the Epirote, stood among the senators of Rome, 
who, with a word of self-conscious majesty, arrested kings in their ambi¬ 
tious march, thus, full of admiration and of reverence, I stand among you, 
legislators of the new capitol, that glorious hall of your people’s collective 
majesty. The capitol of old yet stands, but the spirit has departed from 
it, and is come over to yours, purified by the air of liberty. The old stands, 
a mournful monument of the fragility of human things ; yours, as a sanctu¬ 
ary of eternal right. The old beamed with the red lustre of conquest, now 
darkened by the gloom of oppression ; yours is bright with freedom. The 
old absorbed the world into its own centralized glory ; yours protects your 
own nation from being absorbed, even by itself. The old was awful with 
unrestricted power ; yours is glorious by having restricted it. At the view 
of the old, nations trembled ; at the view of yours, humanity hopes. 

To the old, misfortune was introduced w r ith fettered hands to kneel 
at triumphant conquerors’ feet; to yours, the triumph of introduction is 
granted to unfortunate exiles, who are invited to the honor of a seat. And, 
where kings and Caesars never will be hailed for their power and wealth, 
there the persecuted chief of a down-trodden nation is welcomed, as your 
great Republic’s guest, precisely because he is persecuted, helpless, and 
poor. In the old, the terrible vce victis / * was the rule ; in yours, pro¬ 
tection to the oppressed, malediction to ambitious oppressors, and conso¬ 
lation to a vanquished just cause. And, while from the old a conquered 


Woe to the conquered! 


A REGAL AFFAIR. 


95 


world was ruled, you in yours provide for the common federative interests 
of a territory larger than that old conquered world. There sat men boast¬ 
ing that their will was sovereign of the earth ; here sit men whose glory is 
to acknowledge “ the laws of nature and nature’s God, and to do what their 
sovereign, the people, wills.” 

Other instances of Congressional ovations might be added. 
But while we have received visits from Chinese and Japanese 
commissions, from princes and grand dukes, and from many 
private notables, the proceedings described in the first part 
of this chapter were, as I have said, unique. According to 
the remarks of Speaker Blaine, King Kalakaua is the first 
reigning monarch that ever set foot upon our shores. Hence 
his arrival created quite a stir. A year or so later the Emperor 
of Brazil paid us a visit; and not long ago another ruler from 
the South made a tour of our country. But to King Kalakaua 
should be given the credit of having set them an example. 

Wherever the King went he was the recipient of attention. 
Indeed this attention seemed to some people to border on 
homage and servile adulation. The Governor of New York, 
as chief magistrate of a State inhabited by more than five mill¬ 
ions of people, is the head of a truly Empire State ; but he 
might pass from one end of this country to the other without 
creating the slightest flutter. And yet, as was said by a keen 
observer who remarked upon this peculiar phase of the affair: 
“ The governor of a mild-eyed race of diminishing people, num¬ 
bering scarcely sixty thousand persons, has been travelling 
through the country, and has been regarded with great interest, 
followed by crowds, and studied by curiosity, because he 
was called—a King.” And when I reflect, as did the learned 
critic, upon how, when the monarch reached Providence, “ red 
and blue lights were burning in his honor, and committees 
were in waiting, and an immense crowd stood hurrahing and 
rushing and saluting the majesty of Hawaii” ; and how, “ as the 


196 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


regal party passed along, and committees and high officers of 
state and the great good-natured multitude showed the King 
every mark of honor and respectful interest; ” and as I reflect, 
also, upon “ the ceremonious dinner at the White House and 
the reception of both Houses of Congress,” and “ the courteous 
attentions of the New York municipality,” and a number of 
other details—I am tempted to admit that there is, after all, 
some value in a name, and that the critic’s gentle sarcasm about 
all this fuss and parade was not entirely undeserved. 

In the hearty welcome to Lafayette, the people simply evi¬ 
denced their feelings for a man whose achievements and virtues 
entitled him to honor and to love. In the reception to Kos¬ 
suth, we see a sentiment which he himself discerned and which 
he eloquently eulogized. In the Kalakaua scenes, we may, 
perhaps, perceive a trace of that undemocratic spirit which lurks 
at home and which abroad delights to dance attendance upon 
Royalty—we may, upon the surface, find a trace of that, but I 
prefer to find in the demonstration simply an expression of na¬ 
tional generosity and good-will. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 


FOREIGN RELATIONS. 

While our “simplicity” and certain other phases of our 
national life provoke from foreign powers a kindly smile, we 
take the criticisms in the spirit in which they are offered—and 
go serenely on our way. If, occasionally, we feel inclined to 
smile at them, we should always do it with good humor. They 
all have confidence in our integrity and honor. Let us repay, 
with international courtesy, the compliment of esteem. 

It is a fundamental principle of public law, recognized 
throughout the civilized world, that all nations are “equal in 
respect to each other, and entitled to claim equal consideration 
for their rights, whatever may be their relative dimensions or 
strength, or however greatly they may differ in government, 
religion, or manners.” 

By reason of this equality and independence, each nation 
has a right to manage its own affairs in its own way, free from 
dictation or interference on the part of any other power. And 
as every state is entitled to make and enforce such laws as it 
may deem proper for the people residing within its dominion, 
so, on the other hand, as necessarily follows, a state has no 
right to extend the operation of its laws beyond its own terri¬ 
tory and into the dominion of another nation, without the con¬ 
sent of such nation. 

In their intercourse with one another, nations are controlled 
by what is known as the “ Law of Nations,” an unwritten code 


198 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


of rules sanctioned by usage and based upon principles of nat¬ 
ural justice. These rules, however, are not sufficient to cover 
commercial details and other matters of international concern, 
and hence it is necessary for nations to enter into treaties or 
other formal compacts, in writing, in order to define with ex¬ 
actness their respective rights and duties growing out of special 
relations. 

To preserve international concord and guard international 
interests, nearly every government has its representatives in 
foreign countries. These representatives are of two classes— 
the diplomatic officers, who are stationed at the capitals of 
foreign states, and constitute what are termed tC legations ” or 
“ embassies ; ” and the consular officers, who are stationed at 
the chief ports and business centres of foreign lands. 

The diplomatic officers are of chief dignity. In official cir¬ 
cles various grades are recognized, ambassadors being at the 
head. The highest title our Government permits any of its dip¬ 
lomats abroad is that of “ envoy extraordinary and minister 
plenipotentiary; ” and, as a consequence, the leading, and even 
the smaller, foreign governments reciprocate by sending to us 
diplomats of no higher rank than those with whose presence we 
honor them. Our legation at London now consists of an envoy 
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary and two secretaries 
of legation ; the British legation at Washington consists of an 
envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, a secretary 
of legation, a naval attache, two second secretaries, and a civil 
attache. Our chief representative at Copenhagen combines 
both diplomatic and consular functions, and is known as “ min¬ 
ister resident and consul-general.” Denmark’s representative 
at Washington is also a minister resident and consul-general. 
We send to St. Petersburg, as our chief representative, an en¬ 
voy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary ; Russia sends 
to Washington an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten- 


FOREIGN RELATIONS. 


199 


tiary in return. Great Britain sends to St. Petersburg a full- 
fledged “ambassador;” Russia returns the compliment by 
sending an “ ambassador ” to London. In this matter we have 
not as much style as we perhaps ought to have ; there is no 
reason why we should not give our representatives a rank equal 
to that of the representatives of other first-class powers.* But 
this is another evidence of our “ simplicity.” 

Through the diplomatic officers of a government treaties 
with foreign powers are arranged, and other official negotia¬ 
tions and correspondence are conducted. Representing as they 
do the majesty of the government which sends them, an insult 
to them would be an insult to that government. They are sur¬ 
rounded by an invisible halo of sovereignty. Indeed it is not 
proper, in diplomatic etiquette, to speak, for instance, of “ Her 
Britannic Majesty’s Legation in the United States ; ” the term 
should be “ Her Britannic Majesty’s Legation near the United 
States,” for in theory they are not in our dominion, as ad¬ 
mission of that fact might imply that they are subject to our 
authority. 

Under the law of nations, public ministers are entitled to 
peculiar privileges and immunities. As concerns the Diplo¬ 
matic Corps at Washington, Congress has enacted that every 
person who “assaults, strikes, wounds, imprisons, or in any 
other manner offers violence to the person of a public minister, 
in violation of the law of nations, shall be imprisoned for not 
more than three years, and fined at the discretion of the court.” 
Indeed, the statute goes further and declares that no writ or 
process shall be valid “ whereby the person of any public min- 

* In other chapters of this work, the term " ambassador " occurs in connection with 
the Diplomatic Corps at Washington and in reference, also, to our own representatives 
abroad. Wherever thus used, it should be understood in its popular significance, as 
meaning "the person invested with, and exercising, the principal diplomatic func¬ 
tions,” whether such person is styled "envoy,” "minister,” "charge d’affaires,” or 
enjoys any other designation. 


200 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


ister of any foreign prince or state, authorized and received as 
such by the President, or any domestic or domestic servant of 
any such minister, is arrested or imprisoned, or his goods or 
chattels are distrained, seized, or attached ; ” and, further still, 
that “ whenever any writ or process is sued out in violation of 
the preceding section, every person by whom the same is ob¬ 
tained or prosecuted, whether as party or as attorney or solici¬ 
tor, and every officer concerned in executing it, shall be deemed 
a violator of the law of nations, and a disturber of the public re¬ 
pose, and shall be imprisoned for not more than three years, 
and fined at the discretion of the court.” 

But this immunity does not permit of much abuse. If a 
government should send to this country a minister whom, for 
any reason, we do not care to receive, the President need not 
recognize him ; or should he be received by the President and 
afterward prove objectionable, we need not tolerate his com¬ 
pany longer. Our Government could notify the foreign gov¬ 
ernment and request the recall of its minister ; and should he 
not be recalled, the President could present him with a safe- 
conduct to our border and politely invite him to “ Go ! ”—an 
invitation which a prudent diplomat would lose no time in ac¬ 
cepting. On more than one occasion we have stood upon our 
rights.* 

The consular officers attend to commercial interests, collect 
statistics of foreign resources and trade, and perform other 
highly important duties. Our consular service (embracing “ con- 
sulates-general,” “ consulates,” “ commercial agencies,” and 
“ consular agencies,” distinctions which vary the titles of the 
officers in charge) is quite extensive. As to the immunities of 

* Only a few years after the establishment of our Government, we were constrained 
to demand of France the recall of an insolent minister she had sent to us. Not many 
years later, France refused to receive our envoy (Mr. Pinckney), and ordered him to 
quit the country, and subsequently ordered away two out of three diplomatic represen¬ 
tatives (Pinckney, Marshall, and Gerry) whom we had sent over to negotiate a treaty. 


FOREIGN RELATIONS. 


201 


consular officers in this country, I may note, that while a for¬ 
eign consul is not privileged from arrest or suit, yet, as in the 
case of a public minister, if he himself wishes to sue, he is ac¬ 
corded the high right of instituting proceedings in the Supreme 
Court of the United States.* 

During our national career we have entered into scores of 
treaties, armistices, postal conventions, and other compacts with 
foreign governments, and we have, in other ways, made good 
use of our diplomatic and consular officers abroad. One of our 
latest achievements in the treaty line is “ A Treaty of Peace, 
Friendship and Commerce,” which was concluded at Antana¬ 
narivo, on the 13th of May (17th of Alakaosy), 1881, between 
the United States of America and the Kingdom of Madagascar. 
In the negotiations and drafting of the treaty, the United States 
acted through a representative under the instructions of the 
Secretary of State; and Her Majesty Ranavalomanjaka, Queen 
of Madagascar, was represented by Ravoninahitriniarivo, who 
signs his Malagasy title thus : “ 15 Voninahitra, Off. D. P. Le- 
hiben ny Mpanao Raharaha amy ny Vahiny *' (which means, I 
suppose, “ 15th Honor, Officer of the Palace, Chief Secretary 
of State for Foreign Affairs ”), and by a man of the name of 
Ramaniraka, whose title I forget.f 

I may also, as a faithful chronicler, casually remark that we 
have not fulfilled some of our international obligations. A 
treaty is, to be sure, merely a contract between nations, and, 
therefore a nation has the sovereign power to abrogate it if it 
so desires; but to annul a treaty without the consent of the 

* As noted in another chapter, our ministers and consuls to certain countries have 
been vested by Congress with judicial powers ; but the exercise of those powers de¬ 
pends upon treaty stipulations with the half-civilized states within whose territory the 
ministers and consuls are stationed. 

t Our Siamese friends outdo the Madagascar people in length of names. Their 
minister of posts and telegraphs, according to last advices, is none other than H. R. 
H. Somdet Phra Chow Nong Ya Tho Chow Fa Bhanurangse Swangwongse Krom 
Hluang Bhanuphanduwongse Woradej. 


202 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


other nation which is a party to it, for no other reason than that 
its conditions are irksome or disadvantageous, is an act of bad 
faith, as much so as for one man to break his solemn covenant 
with another. Only ten years after our Government started on 
its way, Congress annulled two treaties (one of “ Alliance,” and 
the other of “ Amity and Commerce ”) which we had made with 
France in 1778. The excuse given was that the treaties had 
been “repeatedly violated on the part of the French Govern¬ 
ment.” That was sufficient justification. I might mention an 
instance of more recent date, however, where that justification 
did not exist; and I could also point out other instances where 
we have silenced our national conscience and tarnished our 
reputation for fair play. 

Despite occasional deeds of belligerence, we have performed 
the role of peace-makers. And not only has our Government 
acted as mediator to settle the conflicting claims of rival powers, 
but the same good service has also been done for us. I have 
now before me the curious proofs of this fact. 

In the early part of this century we had a second war with 
Great Britain. There was, at that time, a saying that “ once a 
British subject, always a British subject.” In other words, the 
English Government maintained (and in doing so, it merely 
announced a doctrine then generally accepted among nations), 
that an Englishman could not cast aside his allegiance to his na¬ 
tive country; and, acting upon that doctrine, it undertook to 
search American vessels for the purpose of seizing and im¬ 
pressing into its own naval service sailors of English birth. 

Now, foreigners are at liberty to come to our shores, and, 
upon complying with certain conditions, may become natural¬ 
ized citizens of this country, and secure that protection which 
our Government ensures to native-born citizens.* On the other 

* The Constitution (14th Amendment) thus defines American citizenship : “ All per¬ 
sons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 


FOREIGN RELATIONS. 


203 


hand, an American citizen is free to leave this country, cast off 
his allegiance to our Government, and become a subject of any 
foreign state willing to receive him as such. This “ right of 
expatriation ” is expressly declared by Congressional enact¬ 
ment.* 

But an American citizen, native-born or naturalized, while 
he remains a citizen and properly conducts himself, is entitled 
to the protection of his Government; and the parental solicitude 
and the power of that Government are supposed to follow and 
watch over him, wherever he may go, even to the uttermost 
parts of the earth.t 

are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein they reside ; ” and Congress 
(by statute of April 9, 1866) has declared: “All persons born in the United States 
and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are declared to be 
citizens of the United States.” Congress has also enacted (April 14, 1802, and Febru¬ 
ary 10, 1855) that, “ All children heretofore born or hereafter born out of the limits and 
jurisdiction of the United States, whose fathers were or may be at the time of their 
birth citizens thereof, are declared to be citizens of the United States ; but the rights of 
citizenship shall not descend to children whose fathers never resided in the United 
States ; ” and, “ Any woman who is now or may hereafter be married to a citizen of the 
United States, and who might herself be lawfully naturalized, shall be deemed a citi¬ 
zen. ” 

* The provision (Act of July 27, 1868) is as follows: “ Whereas the right of expa¬ 
triation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of 
the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; and whereas in the recognition 
of this principle this Government has freely received emigrants from all nations, and 
invested them with the rights of citizenship ; and whereas it is claimed that such Ameri¬ 
can citizens, with their descendants, are subjects of foreign states, owing allegiance to 
the governments thereof; and whereas it is necessary to the maintenance of public 
peace that this claim of foreign allegiance should be promptly and finally disavowed : 
Therefore, any declaration, instruction, opinion, order, or decision of any officer of the 
United States which denies, restricts, impairs, or questions the right of expatriation, 
is declared inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the Republic.” 

+ The Act of July 27, 1868, provides: “All naturalized citizens of the United 
States, while in foreign countries, are entitled to and shall receive from this Government 
the same protection of persons and property which is accorded to native-born citizens.” 
And further: “ Whenever it is made known to the President that any citizen of the 
United States has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by or under the authority of 
any foreign government, it shall be the duty of the President forthwith to demand of that 
government the reasons of such imprisonment; and if it appears to be wrongful and 
in violation of the rights of American citizenship, the President shall forthwith demand 


204 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Whatever may have been the justice of England’s claim to 
expatriated subjects under the public law as then understood, 
her “ right of search” our Government would not and could 
not, with dignity or decency, concede; and when, in the exer¬ 
cise of that pretended right, British commanders seized and im¬ 
pressed into the British service American citizens, our national 
honor became involved and called for action. 

Without further discussing the right or wrong of this matter, 
I hazard the statement, in passing, that responsibility for the 
War of 1812 rests largely upon us. The controversy as to the 
right of England to impress American seamen into its service 
could have been, it seems, satisfactorily adjusted by diplomacy. 
A treaty was negotiated with Great Britain, and that Govern¬ 
ment assured our representatives that the asserted right of im¬ 
pressment would be abandoned. But President Jefferson, for 
reasons of his own, quietly put the draft of the treaty aside, 
without letting the Senate know anything about it,—and be¬ 
queathed to his successor in office the trouble which the ratifi¬ 
cation of that treaty might have averted. 

On the top of the offenses already mentioned came the 
memorable “ Decrees of Berlin and Milan,” issued by the war¬ 
like Napoleon, and the retaliatory “ Orders in Council,” issued 
by the British Government. These decrees and orders virtually 
closed the ports of Europe to American vessels, and played 
havoc with American commerce. 

The story is a complicated one, and I must ask you to 
study your histories for the exact condition of Europe and this 
country at that period. To bring England to terms, Congress 
refused to allow vessels to leave American ports. A “ non- 

the release of such citizen, and if the release so demanded is unreasonably delayed or 
refused, the President shall use such means, not amounting to acts of war, as he may 
think necessary and proper to obtain or effectuate the release ; and all the facts and 
proceedings relative thereto shall as soon as practicable be communicated by the 
President ’.o Congress.” 


FOREIGN RELATIONS. 


205 


intercourse ” policy was adopted and maintained. As the years 
went by, American merchants became desperate. Finally Mr. 
Erskine, the British Minister at Washington, concluded a treaty 
calculated to restore good feeling and commercial prosperity. 
The English Government refused to ratify the treaty. It con¬ 
tended that Mr. Erskine had exceeded his authority, and sent 
over in his stead, as Minister, a Mr. Jackson,—“an appoint¬ 
ment,” says a worthy historian, “not agreeable in America, 
and probably not meant to be.” Our Government declined 
to treat with Mr. Jackson. Popular feeling ran high. The 
crisis came—Congress declared war ! As you may never have 
seen so terrible a document, let me give this Declaration of 
War as another specimen of legislative action : 

An Act declaring War between the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of Amer¬ 
ica and their territories. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled , That war be and the same is 
hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America 
and their territories ; and that the President of the United States is hereby 
authorized to use the whole land and naval force of the United States to carry 
the same into effect, and to issue to private armed vessels of the United 
States, commissions or letters of marque and general reprisal, in such form 
as he shall think proper, and under the seal of the United States, against 
the vessels, goods, and effects of the government of the said United King¬ 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the subjects thereof. 

Approved, June 18, 1812. 

Having declared war and authorized the President to grant 
letters of marque and reprisal, the Congress found it expe¬ 
dient, in the prosecution of that war, to use its constitutional 
power to “ make rules concerning captures on land and water.” 


206 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


So the next year it enacted the following law, which conveys 
a fair idea of “ war legislation : ” 

An Act to encourage the destruction of the armed vessels of war of the 
enemy. 

Beit enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled , That, during the present war 
with Great Britain, it shall be lawful for any person or persons to burn, 
sink, or destroy, any British armed vessel of war, except vessels coming as 
cartels or flags of truce ; and for that purpose to use torpedoes, submarine 
instruments, or any other destructive machine whatever ; and a bounty of 
one half the value of the armed vessel so burnt, sunk, or destroyed, and 
also one half the value of her guns, cargo, tackle, and apparel, shall be 
paid out of the treasury of the United States to such person or persons who 
shall effect the same, otherwise than by the armed or commissioned ves¬ 
sels of the United States. 

Approved, March 3, 1813. 

England, of course, was not idle. The war raged on ocean 
and on shore. “ Old Ironsides,” with Bainbridge in command, 
sent the frigate Java to the bottom of the sea. The gallant 
Lawrence fell. Perry fought and won his battle on the Lake. 
The British troops captured Washington, the seat of Govern¬ 
ment, and gave it, with its Capitol, to the flames. But while the 
cannons were belching forth their fires of death, Diplomacy was 
at work and effected—peace ! 

In 1814, and two weeks before the battle of New Orleans, 
the representatives of Great Britain and America concluded, at 
Ghent, a “Treaty of Peace and Amity.” The news reached 
America, and within a few months the agreement was ratified 
and confirmed by the Senate. That treaty ended the conflict. 
It begins thus : 

His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, desirous 
of terminating the war which has unhappily subsisted between the two 


FOREIGN RELATIONS. 


20 7 


countries, and of restoring, upon principles of perfect reciprocity, peace, 
friendship, and good understanding between them, have, for that purpose, 
appointed their respective plenipotentiaries, that is to say : 

And then it proceeds to give the names of the diplomatic 
officers representing Great Britain and the United States in 
drawing up the treaty, after which follow eleven distinct articles 
of agreement, each one of which is signed and sealed by the 
plenipotentiaries, or duly empowered agents, of both govern¬ 
ments. 

All this is merely introductory to the illustration which I 
wished to give. Some years afterward a controversy arose 
between Great Britain and the United States concerning the 
meaning of the first article of this Treaty of Ghent, and the 
good offices of Alexander I., “ Emperor of all the Russias,” 
were requested. It was rather strange that two English-speak¬ 
ing countries could not understand their own tongue, yet that 
is exactly what it amounted to—a different understanding of 
the meaning of a few simple words—and they were compelled 
to call in the aid of a Muscovite to construe the Anglo-Saxon 
language ! 

Well, the Emperor kindly responded to the wishes of both 
governments, and interposed his influence and good graces in 
bringing about an amicable adjustment of the difficulty. He 
undertook to assist them to draw up a treaty that should carry 
his decision into effect, and, accordingly, constituted and ap¬ 
pointed two plenipotentiaries, “to treat, adjust, and conclude 
such articles of agreement as may tend to the attainment of 
the above-mentioned end, with the plenipotentiaries of the 
United States and of His Britannic Majesty.” I presume no 
one will object if I give the names of the plenipotentiaries. The 
agreement was drawn up in English and French (the latter 
being the diplomatic or “court” language of Europe), so I 
may use both. 


208 


AMONG THE LAW 


The envoys appointed by the Emp vvere : 

“ Charles Robert , Count Nesselrode , His Imperial Majesty’s Privy 
Councillor, member of the Council of State, Secretary of State directing 
the Imperial Department of Foreign Affairs, Chamberlain, Knight of the 
order of Saint Alexander Nevsky, Grand Cross of the order of Saint Vladi¬ 
mir of the first class, Knight of that of the White Eagle of Poland, Grand 
Cross of the order of St. Stephen of Hungary, of the Black and of the Red 
Eagle of Prussia, of the Legion of Honor of France, of Charles III. of 
Spain, of St. Ferdinand and of Merit of Naples, of the Annunciation of 
Sardinia, of the Polar Star of Sweden, of the Elephant of Denmark, of the 
Golden Eagle of Wirtemberg, of Fidelity of Baden, of St. Constantine of 
Parma, and of Guelph of Hanover. 

Count Nesselrode was the first. The second was like unto 
him, “ with a few variations : ” 

“ John, Count Capodistrias , son Conseiller prive & Secretaire d’Etat, 
Chevalier de l’ordre de St. Alexandre Nevsky, Grand’ Croix de l’ordre de 
St. Wladimir de la i re classe, Chevalier de celui de l’Aigle Blanc de 
Pologne, Grand’ Croix de l’ordre de St. Etienne de Hongrie, de l’Aigle 
Noir & de l’Aigle Rouge de Prusse, de la Legion d’Honneur de France, de 
Charles III. d’Espagne, de St. Ferdinand & du Merite de Naples, de Sts. 
Maurice & Lazare de Sardaigne, de l’El^phant de Dannemarc, de la 
Fidelite et du Lion de Zahringen de Bade, Bourgeois du Canton de Vaud, 
ainsi que du Canton & de la Republique de Geneve.” 

The plenipotentiary “on the part of His Majesty the King 
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,” was : 

“ The Right Honourable Sir Charles Bagot , one of His Majesty’s Most 
Honourable Privy Council, Knight Grand Cross of the most honourable 
order of the Bath, and His Majesty’s Ambassador Extraordinary, and 
Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias.” 

And the plenipotentiary “ on the part of the United States, 
with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof,” was : 

“ Henry Middleton , a citizen of the United States, and their Envoy Ex¬ 
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the Emperor of 
all the Russias.” 


FOREIGN RELATIONS . 


209 


The agreement, after reciting these names, says: 

“ And the said plenipotentiaries, after a reciprocal communication of 
their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon 
the following articles,” etc. 

In pursuance of this agreement, the Emperor on the 22d 
day of April, 1822, made his award, which you will find set 
forth at length, together with the treaty itself, in the 8th vol¬ 
ume of our Statutes-at-Large. Thus did an Absolute Mon¬ 
archy act as mediator between a Limited Monarchy and a Re¬ 
public ! And thus, also, do we see how much wiser it is to 
arbitrate than to war ! 

Since that difficulty we have had other international misun¬ 
derstandings, more or less serious. To-day, however, thanks 
to Diplomacy, our own prudence, and (better yet) our “ happy 
detachment from European jealousies,” we are at peace with all 
the world ; and monarchs and other distant folks may be as¬ 
sured of courteous treatment whenever paying us a friendly call.* 

* The policy of our Government is one of neutrality; and, in this spirit, Congress 
has enacted that “ Every citizen of the United States who, within the territory or juris¬ 
diction thereof, accepts and exercises a commission to serve a foreign prince, state, 
colony, district, or people, in war, by land or by sea, against any prince, state, colony, 
district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace, shall be deemed guilty 
of a high misdemeanor, and shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars, and im¬ 
prisoned not more than three years.” This is but one of a series of stringent neutrality 
provisions, designed to restrain adventuresome or avaricious Americans from hostile 
acts and enterprises. 

14 


CHAPTER XXV. 


LOOKERS-ON IN VIENNA. 

There was one ovation tendered to a visiting “ sovereign,” 
of which few people have ever heard. And yet its recipient 
belonged to an order of kings who reign over every home upon 
the habitable globe—whimsical, fretful, domineering, yet good- 
natured monarchs ! I mean that small bundle of inconsisten¬ 
cies, that “bald-headed tyrant from No Man’s Land”—the 
baby ! 

He came to the Capitol one summer night, and the first 
glimpse I caught of him was in his mother’s arms in the gallery 
of the House. It was then about one o’clock in the morning, 
but the Hall was crowded with all conditions of humanity. 
The speeches were dull and tedious, and even the baby could 
not restrain his feelings of impatience. So he cried with all his 
might. 

Now what do you suppose the law-makers did when their 
proceedings were interrupted in this way ? Did they order 
their Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest the offender and put him into 
jail for his contempt ? No ! The member who had the floor 
deliberately sat down, while the other Congressmen wheeled 
upon their chairs and cheered ! The galleries took it up, and 
for fully a minute the cheering continued. Then the noise 
ceased in order to give the baby a chance to respond. But he 
had relapsed into,a quiet mood. So the floor and galleries de¬ 
cided to “ call him out,” and, with cries of “ Bravo ! ” “ En- 








































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In the Rotunda of the Capitol. 

















































































































































LOOKERS-ON IN VIENNA. 


211 


core ! ” and the like, the applause broke out afresh. And not 
until after that little monarch left the Hall was the so-called 
“ order” of the House restored. 

Indeed, the rush of reigning monarchs to the Capitol was in¬ 
cessant. I have many a time been actually hindered in the per¬ 
formance of my duties as a page by the crowd of “ sovereigns ” 
who surged through the corridors of the building. I met hun¬ 
dreds of them every day—monarchs, untitled and uncrowned, 
yet wielding the sceptre of authority. 

Exactly what causes this daily rush—for it has not abated in 
the least—is not left entirely to conjecture. There is a super¬ 
stition prevalent throughout the land that the Congressional 
Record does not contain an accurate account of everything that 
takes place in the Senate and in the House, and the American 
people wish to hear and see for themselves precisely what is 
being said and done by those whom they employ to speak and 
act. 

And, by the way, it is very true that the Record does not 
faithfully reflect the proceedings of the law-makers. Not only 
do the official stenographers prune and polish the remarks of 
Senators and Representatives, cutting out hasty and ungram¬ 
matical expressions, but the Congressmen themselves habitually 
revise the official report before allowing it to go out to the pub¬ 
lic. So varied are these changes and so great has grown the 
abuse of this privilege, that sometimes a speech as it appears in 
the Record is absolutely beyond the recognition of persons 
present at its delivery the preceding day. Frequent efforts to 
put an end to this evil practice have been made by some of the 
law-makers, but they have not been successful. 

But the Record (so-called) could not, if it would, reproduce 
the scenes in Congress. Cold type cannot usurp the functions 
of a camera-obscura, and some of the quaintest eccentricities 
manifested about the legislative Halls are not capable of being 


212 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


reported. They are seen in the rotunda, in the lobbies, the 
corridors, in the Halls themselves during a recess, or in the gal¬ 
leries during the session, of either body. And the actors are 
not necessarily Congressmen—they are often the “ sovereigns.” 

Up in the gallery, for instance, is a patriotic old farmer from 
some distant State. It is his first visit to the Senate. He is 
impressed with the awfulness of the proceedings, perhaps as 
severely as I was when I paid it my first visit. A Senator is 
making a very commonplace argument, but there sits the 
American citizen, hanging upon every word as if the fate of 
the nation depended upon that speech. And yet, were you to 
follow that same citizen over to the House, you would be apt 
to see him laughing and enjoying himself as if at a performance 
of “ Humpty-Dumpty/’ The Representatives moving about 
in the rear of their seats, up and down the aisles, back and 
forth in the area of freedom, ascending and descending the 
Speaker’s steps—everywhere swarming like an army of ants,— 
some smoking their cigars or reclining on the sofas, asleep or 
half-awake, others reading the papers, others still telling anec¬ 
dotes and bursting into periodical roars of laughter that chal¬ 
lenge the attention of the entire body,—such things are not 
calculated to let the mind of the average person soar away into 
the realm of mystery and horror. 

Ah ! these “ sovereigns ! ” Some of them are curious 
beings. Go into the House on a warm afternoon, or any time 
at night, during a session, and on the yellow benches in the 
northern gallery, right over the large clock and in full view of 
the Speaker, you will find scores of colored men—fast asleep. 
Day after day I have seen them there—apparently the same 
dusky forms—erect, nodding, reclining, their mouths open, their 
eyes closed, their brains at rest. 

Others evince their curious natures in various ways, and 
some American pilgrims, I regret to say, have no respect for 


LOOKERS-ON IN VIENNA. 


213 


the sanctity of the place. It is especially so with relic-hunters. 
They seize on everything that they can lay their hands upon 
or pull apart. At General Grant’s inauguration the President 
had scarcely retired from the grand stand when a crowd of 
citizens on the ground below clambered up the sides, and 
within a minute, the chair which the Chief Magistrate had oc¬ 
cupied was split into a score of fragments—one man capturing 
a leg, another an arm, another a part of a rung—all marching 
away with them as trophies of the event! After the funeral 
ceremonies over Senator Sumner, the relic-hunters sought to 
obtain pieces of the mourning emblems around his vacant chair. 
The crape was cut to pieces by a score of knives, and the 
worthless filing beneath the desk was literally torn into atoms ! 
Indeed the jack-knives even attacked the mahogany of the 
desk itself, and I remember distinctly that a policeman had to 
be stationed at the chair to prevent further sacrilege. 

I have seen these relic-hunters at their work on several other 
solemn occasions. In fact they are everywhere. They go to 
Mount Vernon to visit the tomb of Washington, and break the 
mortar and rocks from the walls of the old vault, cut twigs from 
the shrubbery and trees, and carry away any little thing that 
will serve as a memento of the place ! They write their names 
on the walls of the dome of the Capitol, and wherever they can 
get a foothold. Such defacement is not patriotism—it is van¬ 
dalism. 

The most eccentric party of tourists I ever saw was a group 
of elderly women. They came to the Senate-chamber one day, 
about half an hour before the meeting of that body. After 
lounging around, inquiring about this thing and that and 
worrying the wits of everyone within reach, they finally settled 
down in the seats of distinguished Senators, unwrapped their 
napkins, spread them on the desk, and quietly proceeded to— 
eat their lunch ! And they actually considered their rights as 


214 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


citizens assailed when Captain Bassett—bashful and chivalrous 
man that he is—politely requested them to retire and “ permit ” 
the Senate of the United States to begin its daily work. 

Another class of visitors is the regiment of “ bores.” Per¬ 
haps there are better specimens of this genus homo to be found 
about the Capitol than anywhere in the country. I do not re¬ 
fer to claimants petitioning for national justice—they have a 
right to be there—but to the chronic office-seekers and profes¬ 
sional lobbyists. Possibly you do not know 
what I mean by a “ professional lobbyist.” 
Well, he is a man who infests the lobbies of 
the Capitol, button-holing law-makers, and 
otherwise striving to influence special and 
general legislation of interest to corporations 
and individuals who have engaged him for 
that purpose. 

Professional lobbyists are the terror of 
the average law-maker. I have seen grave 
Senators actually skulking through side-doors 
in order to escape their grasp. Some were 
polished and honorable gentlemen. 0thers 4 , 
however, were not; their presumption was 
prodigious, their pertinacity wonderful ! 

So numerous are these lobbyists, so great is the power of 
the “ capital ” behind them, and so formidable are they as a 
body, that they are called the “ Third House ” of Congress, 
and their chief is styled the “ King of the Lobby ! ” It is ap¬ 
propriate, therefore, to mention them in connection with reign¬ 
ing sovereigns. 

But the sight-seers proper are the “ sovereigns ” of whom I 
intended to write. They ramble wherever they see an opening, 
and, as a consequence, many of them soon become lost in the 
intricate maze of rooms and corridors. 



A Member of the 
“ Third House.” 



LOOKERS-ON IN VIENNA. 


215 


The most interesting room in the building is the rotunda. 
In it all classes of pilgrims congregate, and a person taking a 
seat in one of the settees near the wall can see many noted 
men and many human curiosities pass through. The first 
thing a stranger does upon reaching this place is to gaze in 
silent wonder at the vast proportions of the room. I once 
observed a tribe of visiting Indians, in their feathers and robes, 
enter it, and I watched the expressions of their countenances as 
they stood motionless and surveyed the lofty height. Then 
they hurried to the gallery far above to take a downward 
peep. I did not think it possible that a red man could be im¬ 
pressed ; but they were the most awed human beings I ever saw. 

On the walls of the rotunda are some large framed pictures, 
representing the “ Pilgrim Fathers ” on their way to this coun¬ 
try, the “ Baptism of Pocahontas,” the “ Surrender of Corn¬ 
wallis,” and other incidents in American history. Higher up 
on the walls is a frescoed circle, illustrative of certain epochs in 
our country’s career. At the top is the painted canopy. One 
group represents “ War,” another il Manufactures,” and the 
others have similar allegorical meanings. But the most con¬ 
spicuous painting and the one most likely to excite the interest 
and the laughter of the visitor, is a group of angelic “ Sisters,” 
representing the thirteen original States, surrounding the Fa¬ 
ther of his Country, who sits upon a cloud with the epaulets 
of a general upon his shoulders and near unto an angel 
blowing a horn. I presume it stands for Fame! In the groups 
surrounding this central assembly the tourist may discover 
figures resembling other men well known in the annals of the 
nation. Some of these effigies, so the story goes, are due to 
the malice of the fresco-artist. 

But these figures, if capable of appreciation, would undoubt¬ 
edly laugh as heartily at the panorama below them as the tour¬ 
ists on the floor laugh at the oddity of the spectacle above. It 




216 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


is one of the most entertaining diversions to ascend the stairs 
to the gallery and, leaning over, to study the mass on the floor. 
The people look like queer pigwidgeons without bodies. All 



A View Downward from the Gallery of the Rotunda. 


that one can see are the tops of hats and a number of waving 
“ prongs ” that stand for moving arms and legs ! I cannot de¬ 
scribe the scene, but must refer you to the skill of the artist for 
a representation of it. 













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LOOKERS-ON IN VIENNA. 


21 7 


The Old Hall of Representatives, with its many statues, its 
breccia columns, and its wonderful echoes, always comes in for 
a large share of the visitor's admiration, as does also the Old 
Senate-chamber, with its judicial busts. So also do the Presi¬ 
dent’s Room, with its frescoed walls and indefinite multipli¬ 
cation of mirrors, and its neighbor, the Marble Room, where 
one may see another bust or two, particularly one of Tecum- 
seh, upon whose venerable Indian head our president used to 
sit when presiding over a council of the pages. Indeed there 
is a great deal to see and to admire about the Capitol, and one 
should have the services of a guide to do it justice. 

As a page it was frequently my pleasure to conduct distin¬ 
guished Americans and titled foreigners (the friends of Sena¬ 
tors) about the building, and had I space I would gladly with 
my pen point out to my own young friends the curiosities and 
wonders of the place, artistic, human, and otherwise. 

But I will give the public one item of information which has 
hitherto been confined within the knowledge of a few. Half¬ 
way up the stairs leading from the Senate to its western gal¬ 
lery is a representation (or an alleged representation) of the 
Battle of Chapultepec. Of this painting I confess I do not in 
general know what to say. It is mystifying to most spectators. 
No one knows what the different soldiers are about; they seem 
to be going in all directions. There are several horsemen in 
the battle, but one always struck my fancy. He is on a fiery 
steed, and is apparently leading some gallant and desperate 
charge. The figure used to trouble me, when a page, for I was 
very anxious to know what officer it represented. I remained 
in ignorance for many months. At length one day, during an 
executive session of the Senate, a little fat man came into this 
place, and, with a grand gesture and a funny brogue, called the 
attention of the guards stationed at the foot of the steps to the 
picture. 


218 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


“Do you see that man on that horse ? ” he asked, pointing 
to the gallant charger. “ Well, / am that man ! ” 

Saying which he slapped himself forcibly on his chest, and 
pompously disappeared. He repeated this performance on 
several succeeding days, but did not give his name—simply 
saying : 

“/am that man ! ” 

This is the extent of my information upon the subject. 


CHAPTER XXVI. 


CHAOS. 

In an early chapter we briefly reviewed the chief features 
of Congressional practice established for the preservation of de¬ 
corum and the regulation of debate ; and we have also seen 
how the strict application of some of these rules, intended 
to protect the public interests, obstructs rather than helps the 
transaction of business. Were these rules always observed— 
even though abused, as in the case of whimsical filibustering— 
it would be unnecessary to pursue the subject. But because 
there are infractions of propriety, because members of either 
House do sometimes break through the rules and overstep 
their privileges, it is proper to say something about these noto¬ 
rious and admitted facts. 

In order to secure to Congress the authority and efficiency 
designed for it by the founders, and which properly belong to 
it as the supreme representative body in the Republic, the Con¬ 
stitution conferred upon each House the right to determine the 
rules of its proceedings ; and that its dignity should not be 
molested by rash and thoughtless men, it also gave to each 
House the right to “ punish its members for disorderly be¬ 
havior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a mem¬ 
ber.” These general provisions conferring the right , carry 
with them full poiver to enforce those rights as either House 
may deem proper. 

By the possession of this right to “ punish members for dis¬ 
orderly behavior,” therefore, it will be seen that, to that extent, 


220 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


each body of Congress is vested with judicial power. With the 
exercise of that right—however extreme the rules or proceed¬ 
ings established or taken by either House in such exercise—no 
tribunal or officer in the other departments of the Government 
can interfere. But were Congress to attempt to enlarge this 
authority, so as to inflict a punishment upon private citizens 
(except under peculiar circumstances, as will be hereafter ex¬ 
plained), it would be usurping the functions confided to the 
judicial department of the Government, and would be checked 
by the courts. 

The power in regard to compelling “the attendance of 
absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as 
each House may provide,” is constantly employed. Especially 
is this true at night-sessions in the House. Although no busi¬ 
ness can be done in either body without the presence of a 
quorum, or a majority of the members, it is extremely diffi¬ 
cult on ordinary occasions to secure the necessary number 
without resort to this compulsory power ; in which case the 
Senate or House may direct its Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest the 
absent Senators or Representatives, wherever they may be 
found, and escort them to the House. This proceeding being 
of frequent occurrence in the Lower House, and the scenes of 
disorder which accompany it being, I may say, peculiar to that 
body, I shall describe the course pursued there. It differs 
somewhat from the practice in the Senate. 

When the point of “ no quorum ” is raised, a “ Call of the 
House ” is usually ordered, and the Clerk calls the roll of mem¬ 
bers, and those present respond “ Here,” as their names are 
read. Having finished the first call, the Clerk reads the names 
of those who did not respond on the first reading, to give those 
a chance to answer who may have been in the lobbies or else¬ 
where about the House, but not in the room at the exact mo¬ 
ment when their names were called. When this second call of 


CHAOS. 


221 


the roll is completed, all the doors but one leading into the 
Hall are closed and locked, and at that one door a guard is 
stationed to prevent any of the absentees from entering.* 

When the doors are closed, the names of the absentees are 
read, those who are old or infirm or detained by sickness in 
their families are excused, and after this the Sergeant-at-Arms 
is directed to arrest and bring before the bar of the House any 
of the absentees he can find, sparing only those who are away 
by “ leave ” of the House first duly obtained. Then the fun be¬ 
gins. While waiting for the Sergeant-at-Arms to execute his 
orders, the members inside the Hall amuse themselves in many 
ways, and laugh in anticipation of the further enjoyment they 
will have upon the appearance of their remiss associates. As 
no work can be done, of course play is not discountenanced. 
After a time the Sergeant-at-Arms appears with a batch of the 
arrested absentees, and, taking them before the Speaker’s desk, 
the name of each is called, and he is then permitted to explain 
his non-attendance. These explanations are the most amusing 
features of the whole performance. All sorts of ludicrous ex¬ 
cuses are given, but most of the members, as a rule, plead var¬ 
ious forms of sickness—from paralysis to a toothache ! During 
the delivery of these excuses the other members jokingly ap¬ 
plaud and laugh. While the prisoners may, under the rules, be 
fined for their absence, still, when the House is in good humor 
(as it generally is under these circumstances—for who could 
preserve his gravity while that ridiculous comedy is being per¬ 
formed ?) it merely laughs again and makes fun at their ex¬ 
pense, and teases and tries to scare them by fierce motions to 
“ dispose” of them in various ways—and then excuses their 

* Recently, a distinguished Representative (Mr. Long, of Massachusetts) who pre¬ 
sented himself at this lobby door and was refused admission, during proceedings on a 
Call, maintained that this guard is improper. He contended that while the House can 
compel the attendance of absent members, it cannot exclude them from attendance if they 
voluntarily appear. 


222 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


neglect and allows them to take their seats. And so this per¬ 
formance goes on, the Sergeant-at-Arms continuing to bring in 
his little groups of absentees, until, having captured them all or 
a quorum having appeared, “ all further proceedings under the 
Call ” are ordered to be dispensed with, and the House proceeds 
with its legislative work. 

So mortifying is it to some sensitive members to be brought 
before the bar under arrest, that they have been known to crawl 
through the windows communicating between the outer corri¬ 
dor and the cloak-rooms, first giving their hats and overcoats 
to some friendly employe to hide, and thus conceal the evidence 
of their having just arrived at the Capitol. Then they bravely 
march from the cloak-rooms out into the Hall as if they had 
been there all the while ! Indeed, on one occasion, they sur¬ 
reptitiously entered in this manner in such surprising numbers, 
that the Speaker was required, despite the hot and oppressive 
atmosphere of a summer night, to order the closing of the win¬ 
dows and transoms and all other apertures through which the 
smuggling might be attempted. Such conduct is, to say the 
least, not dignified ; and as it happened only a few years ago, 
we can understand why some people believe that the manners 
of the House are still susceptible of amendment. 

The power to punish for disorderly behavior is not very fre¬ 
quently invoked by the House—it is seldom invoked by the 
Senate. You will readily understand that Congressmen are but 
men, and that the slightest remark or affront may give rise to 
great excitement. The first step toward misconduct must be 
checked if we would arrest still greater trouble.* It is with the 

* As Vice-President Fillmore, in remarking upon the “ dignity and decorum ” of the 
senate, and the “powers and duties of the Chair,” in 1850, declared : “ How important 
it is that the first departure from the strict rule of parliamentary decorum should be 
checked, as a slight attack, or even insinuation, of a personal character often provokes 
a more severe retort, which brings out a more disorderly reply, each Senator feeling a 
justification in the previous aggression.” 


CHAOS. 


223 


law-makers precisely as it is with boys and girls—one word 
leads to another, the members becoming angrier and angrier as 
the discussion proceeds, until, finally, the proprieties of debate 
are utterly forgotten in the tumult that ensues. 

I have seen the proceedings apparently going on smoothly, 
when one member would “catch the Speaker’s eye.” To 
“catch the Speaker’s eye” means that a member is “recog¬ 
nized ” by the Speaker, just as the Senators are recognized by 
the Vice-President, and that he thus obtains the floor and the 
right to speak. Some Representatives seem to have great 
difficulty in getting the attention of the Speaker. One of them 
is reported to have said that he had served as a member of the 
House for a number of years, and caught the malaria, and the 
measles, and the mumps, and nearly everything else that is 
to be caught in Washington, but that he had never yet caught 
the Speaker’s eye. 

Well, the member who has the floor may be a fiery, forcible 
talker, and, beginning his speech, gradually warms up with his 
subject and gradually rouses his antagonists. Suddenly he 
gives one blast of burning eloquence ; and then the other Con¬ 
gressmen spring to their feet and glare at the orator. In an¬ 
other moment there is chaos ! 

Some of the scenes would remind an Irishman of the good 
old days of Donnybrook Fair. I have seen members roll up 
their sleeves. I have seen two disputants rush down the aisles, 
from either side of the Hall, into the area of freedom, shaking 
their fists at each other in so vigorous a manner as to induce 
younger House pages to run over to the Senate and, waving 
their hands to their friends, breathlessly exclaim : “ Come on, 
boys, quick ! there’s going to be a fight ! ”—an invitation 
which would instantly deplete the Chamber of every House and 
Senate page, and cause a tumultuous stampede to the Hall. I 
have seen two such members facing each other like gladiators, 


224 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


both vociferating and violently gesticulating, when one has re¬ 
ferred to the other as “the member from New York.” This 
violation of parliamentary courtesy was treated as an insult. 
“Say gentleman!” —“Well, then, 'gentleman!'” retorted 
the other, and the sarcastic emphasis he put upon the word was 
even more irritating than his first offense. One wild Congress¬ 
man, in a memorable scene, ten years ago, so lost his wits, that 
he jumped upon his desk in the very eloquence of his wrath ! 

But these simoons of passion are not generally of long dura¬ 
tion. The Speaker, with the assistance of the Sergeant-at- 
Arms and his mace of authority, eventually succeeds in bring¬ 
ing the unruly members to a stand-still. Then if, in the excite¬ 
ment, they have gone too far, they are required to do penance. 
The Constitution permits a member of Congress to abuse, with 
perfect impunity, any “ outsider” under the sun. He cannot 
be punished for slander or in any other way held to answer for 
it by the courts. This is known as the constitutional “ Free¬ 
dom of Debate.” It is a very important privilege. The ob¬ 
ject of it is to allow Senators and Representatives to express, 
without fear, their honest opinions about men and things. But 
they are not expected to abuse one another ; and when a Rep¬ 
resentative “disappoints that expectation” or says anything 
else that is offensive to good taste—in other words, “ uses un¬ 
parliamentary language ”—his breach of propriety is regarded 
as an insult to the House, and he is required to retract the 
words and apologize, and in aggravated cases he is even brought 
before the bar, in custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms, where the 
Speaker pronounces upon his head the solemn censure of the 
House. Nothing less than this would appease the wounded 
dignity of that mighty body ! 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 

The last session of the Forty-third Congress was a remarka¬ 
bly lively one. Three noted measures engaged the attention 
of the law-makers. The bill providing for the resumption of 
specie payments was of great financial moment, but it is un¬ 
necessary to say anything about it here further than to record 
the fact that it became a law on the 14th of January, 1875. The 
bill “ to provide against the invasion of States, to prevent the 
subversion of their authority, and to maintain the security of 
elections,” was inspired by the presence of Federal troops at 
scenes of political turbulence in the South ; it did not, however, 
become a law, and is mentioned merely because of the memo¬ 
rable filibustering opposition it encountered in the House on 
the 24th and 25th of February. The Civil Rights Bill passed 
both Houses and was approved by the President, and yet— 
strange to relate !—it did not become law ; the proceedings, 
therefore, deserve more than passing notice. 

We have seen that this question of civil rights was a disturb¬ 
ing element in the Senate during the session of 1874, and that, 
notwithstanding the obstructive methods of the minority, the 
Senate passed its bill. That Senate bill went over to the 
House, but it was not acted upon by the Representatives. In 
the winter of 1875 it still peacefully slumbered on the Speaker’s 
table. 

During the session of 1874, however, the House had had be- 
*5 


226 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


fore it one of its own bills in relation to civil rights, the pur¬ 
poses of which were similar to those of the Senate measure. This 
House bill, after discussion, had been disposed of, not by pas¬ 
sage but by recommitment to the Committee on the Judiciary. 

The tug-of-war came on Wednesday, the 27th of January, 
1875. Shortly after the meeting of the House on that day, Gen¬ 
eral Butler arose and tried to report from the Judiciary Committee 
the bill which had been so recommitted in 1874. The minority 
in the House had no more fondness for the measure than the 
minority in the Senate had for the Senate bill ; they made a 
point of order against the presentation of the report, hoping in 
this way to prevent, or at least defer, the consideration of the 
bill. Speaker Blaine held that while the Committee on the Ju¬ 
diciary might not, under the order of the House recommitting 
the bill to it, have acquired the right to report back at any 
time, still a motion to reconsider the recommitment was “ highly 
privileged ” and “amounted to the same thing.” The objec¬ 
tion of the minority was thus overcome by a very simple par¬ 
liamentary manoeuvre. Instead of reporting the bill back and 
asking for its consideration, it was only necessary to reconsider 
the vote by which the bill had been recommitted, and the re¬ 
consideration of that vote would restore the bill to the place it 
had had before the House at the time of its recommitment. 

The Republican hosts, in command of General Butler, then 
decided to force the motion to reconsider; Mr. Randall, on be¬ 
half of the Democratic minority, opposed the motion by “ rais¬ 
ing the question of consideration.” In other words, the imme¬ 
diate question before the House was, “ Will the House consider 
the motion for reconsideration ? ” It was evident that the Re¬ 
publican majority intended to consider the motion if they could 
get a vote on the question ; the minority resolved to defeat that 
intention if they could, by preventing a vote ; they had but one 
recourse—to filibuster ! Accordingly, the battle began. 


One of the Corners of the Hall of Representatives : a Good Place for a Quiet Chat. 































































































































































































































































MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 


227 


Early in the afternoon the first filibustering movement was 
made, and from that time onward the scenes about the Hall 
were perhaps the worst I ever saw—and that is saying a good 
deal. There were motions to adjourn for the day, motions to 
adjourn to a day certain, motions to take a recess, motions to 
adjourn, motions for recess, motions to adjourn, motions for re¬ 
cess, motions to adjourn, motions for recess, motions to, ad¬ 
journ, ^nd so on and so forth ;—it was horrible ! Over and over 
the roll went the Clerk, over and over again the members re¬ 
sponded to their names, and General Butler, determined not to 
desert his post, sat as if riveted to his chair, watching the tactics 
of the enemy. 

Onward and onward went the roll-call all that afternoon and 
all that night! And while the hours dragged wearily and 
moodily along; while some members retired to the sofas in the 
rear of the seats or in their committee-rooms to sleep, only to be 
awakened again and again to answer to their names ; while the 
reporters and clerks took turns in their naps ; while other mem¬ 
bers crawled under the desk, where they could call out their 
votes to the Clerk without seriously breaking their rest; while 
the “spectators” snored in the galleries, and the pages went 
to sleep on the steps,—during all this while the commander-in¬ 
chief remained in his seat, “sitting out” the minority! Oh, 
what a night ! The call of the roll in the House takes half an 
hour. From Wednesday afternoon, the roll went steadily on— 
forty times !—until within a few minutes of the regular time for 
reassembling on Thursday. 

Yet even then the House did not pause to take breath 
The hour of twelve saw no cessation of hostilities. The legis¬ 
lative day of Wednesday still went on, and as it passed the 
hour of twelve, General Butler called out: “ Does not the rul¬ 
ing of the Chair that this is a continuous legislative day put us 
out of the benefit of clergy ? That is, can we have prayers to- 


228 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


day?” The General having cracked his joke, and those who 
were not too feeble having duly laughed, the filibustering was 
resumed. All that afternoon, all that night, and far into the 
morning, the same old scenes, the same old motions, the same 
old “Calls of the House,” the same old “Yeas and Nays” 
and roll-calls—thirty-six times more ! At twenty-five minutes 
after ten o’clock on the morning of Friday, the 29th of January, 
the House adjourned to the following day at noon. Thus 
ended the legislative day of Wednesday, the 27th, after a con¬ 
tinuous session of nearly forty-seven hours, and after seventy- 
six calls of the roll ! 

Well, the House reassembled on Saturday, January 30th, at 
twelve o’clock, and General Butler and the filibusters were again 
on hand. The minority now resorted to an ingenious expedient 
to kill time. Instead of making motions and bothering them¬ 
selves as much as their adversaries by demands for the Yeas 
and Nays, they insisted upon the reading in full of the journal 
of Wednesday’s proceedings. There was no escape from the 
demand. The rules of the House provided that the reading 
of the journal should not be dispensed with except by unani¬ 
mous consent; the Constitution provided that the Yeas and 
Nays should, upon the demand of one-fifth of the members, be 
entered upon that journal; the Yeas and Nays had been so de¬ 
manded by the minority : hence, the roll-calls formed a part of 
the journal and must be read in full! It was a veritable thun¬ 
derbolt ; it was Mr. Randall who hurled it, and he had good 
reasons for his course. He understood too well the temper of 
General Butler, and Speaker Blaine, and the other Republican 
leaders, not to know that mischief was on foot. He knew that 
they were manufacturing a bomb—his object was to prevent 
them from bursting it that day. He succeeded. 

You may judge of the ordeal, however, from the fact that 
although the Clerk ran over the names as glibly as his tongue 


MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 


229 


could carry him, the reading was still unfinished when, at forty 
minutes past four o’clock in the afternoon, the majority, having 
become utterly fatigued, moved that the reading be suspended 
and that the House adjourn until Monday, February 1st. The 
motion was made by General Butler; it is needless to add, it 
was carried. 

The valiant minority, however, were doomed. The House 
met on Monday. Mr. Randall’s fears were realized—the ex¬ 
plosion came—a motion to amend the rules ! 

At ten minutes before six o’clock, in the evening, a recess 
was taken until the following (Tuesday) morning, at ten. The 
consideration of the question of changing the rules was resumed. 
At length the Republicans passed (under suspension of the 
rules) a resolution authorizing the Committee on Rules “ to re¬ 
port to the House for consideration and action at the present 
time, any new rules or changes of rules.” The resolution fur¬ 
ther provided that, when the Committee should so report, no 
dilatory motions should be allowed, and that discussion upon 
such rules and amendments should be limited to one hour ! 

Scarcely had the resolution been adopted, when General 
Garfield, of the Committee on Rules, got up and made the 
dreaded report. Despite the cries of the minority, a new rule 
was made— 

Whenever a question is pending before the House the Speaker shall not 
entertain any motion of a dilatory character except one motion to adjourn 
and one motion to fix the day to which the House shall adjourn. 

That was its main provision. It acted like magic. Filibus¬ 
tering was at an end ! 

The Republicans having thus made things secure, the House, 
at 3:55 P.M., adjourned. On Wednesday, the 3d of February, 
victors and vanquished appeared once more upon the field of 
battle. The Republicans coolly demanded “ Regular Order ! ” 


230 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


The Speaker arose and stated the question before the House : 
“ The question is, Will the House consider the motion to recon¬ 
sider the vote by which the civil-rights bill was referred to the 
Judiciary Committee ? ” The Yeas and Nays were called : 148 
voted in the affirmative, 91 voted in the negative. The House 
agreed to consider the motion. 

Then said the Speaker : “ The question now recurs on the 
motion to reconsider the motion by which the House recom¬ 
mitted the civil-rights bill to the Judiciary Committee.” The 
House so “ agreed.” 

Then General Butler withdrew his motion to recommit made 
at the preceding session of 1874. By this movement the bill 
was left boldly before the House, and the Speaker at once an¬ 
nounced : “ The question recurs, Shall this bill be engrossed 
and read a third time ? ” The majority meant business ! 

The minority could now do nothing but talk. The debate 
began. It was exhilarating, to say the least. It ran into the 
4th of February. On that day, a Democratic member from 
Kentucky took the floor. I shall call him “ Mr. X.Y.Z.” He 
said: 

“ It is not my purpose on this occasion to discuss the legal 
aspects of this bill. I have done that heretofore in a carefully 
prepared speech, delivered during the last session of Congress. 
I had hoped that this measure would fail; but it is now mani¬ 
fest to all of us that it is a foregone conclusion that to-day’s sun 
may set upon it as a law of the land. Men upon the opposite 
side have been dragooned into its support, and its success has 
been in a measure accomplished by a daring and revolutionary 
innovation on the time-honored rules of this House. It is the 
culminating, crowning iniquity of radicalism. It is born of 
malignity ; it will be passed in defiance and in violation of the 
Constitution ; and executed, I fear, in violence and bloodshed.” 

Here a Republican member interposed and raised the point 


MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 


23 


of order that the language was not parliamentary as applied to 
a measure then pending before the House, and demanded that 
the words be taken down. The official reporter wrote out from 
his shorthand notes the last sentence above quoted, and handed 
the transcript to the Clerk, who read it from the desk. The 
Speaker ruled that, in his opinion, the language did not tran¬ 
scend “ the limit of parliamentary debate.” 

The member from Kentucky thereupon proceeded with his 
speech. As his vehemence increased, he delivered his remarks 
point-blank at the heads of the Republicans, and the Speaker 
had to caution him to address the Chair. He did as he was bid 
—and dealt the Speaker himself a stinging blow ! 

For some minutes, the words of the orator rose to the lofti¬ 
est eloquence ; then he began to descend. As he continued, 
the Speaker thought the remarks were growing personal, and 
asked the Representative if he was referring to another mem¬ 
ber of the House. The gentleman from Kentucky answered 
that he was not—that he was simply describing an individual 
in his “ mind’s eye.” In another moment, however, his pur¬ 
pose was made apparent, for, with a fierce and scathing remark, 
unmistakable in its meaning, he turned and faced — General 
Butler! 

I need not picture the wild disorder that ensued. “ Cave of 
the Winds ! ”—it was then a perfect whirlwind of excitement! 

Again the words were taken down and read at the desk. 
One Republican wanted the member from Kentucky expelled. 
Other motions in the same direction were made. After a 
heated discussion, the following resolution was adopted by a 
strict party vote of 161 to 79 : 

Resolved , That the member from Kentucky, Mr. X. Y. Z., in the lan¬ 
guage used by him upon the floor and taken down at the Clerk’s desk, as 
well as in the prevarication to the Speaker, by which he was enabled to 
complete the utterance of the language, has been guilty of a violation of 


232 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


the privileges of this House and merits the severe censure of the House for 
the same. 

Resolved, That said X. Y. Z. be now brought to the bar of the House 
in the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms, and be there publicly censured by 
the Speaker in the name of the House. 

Then General Butler, who had taken no part in the discus¬ 
sion over the resolution, obtained permission to make a personal 
explanation. The confessional part of his brief statement was 
characteristic : 

“ I have been here eight years. I have engaged in debate 
perhaps a great deal more than I ought to have done. I call 
upon any gentleman who served with me during the present 
Congress—I call upon every gentleman here who served with 
me during the eight years I have been here, whether in all that 
time I have ever commenced a personal attack upon any man 
in this House ; whether I have ever stepped out of my way to 
do an unkind thing or say any unkind word of a single gentle¬ 
man of the House until I was first attacked. 

“Be he who he may, speak whom I have offended. Let 
this thing be settled once for all, for I have endeavored with 
studied courtesy never to attack ; and I have endeavored one 
other thing, sir—when I was attacked never to leave a man 
until he was sorry he did it. I have no more to say.” 

When the cheers that greeted this sally had subsided, the 
Speaker ordered the Clerk to read the resolution just passed by 
the House. The resolution having been read, the Sergeant-at- 
Arms descended from his chair upon the platform, and march¬ 
ing to the seat of the member from Kentucky took him into 
custody and brought him before the bar of the House. And 
then, so silent had the House become that not even a whisper 
was heard as the Speaker solemnly arose and slowly delivered 
the sentence of wrath : 

“ Mr. X. Y. Z., you are arraigned at the bar of the House, 


MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 


233 



under its formal resolution, for having transgressed its rules by 
disorderly remarks and for having resorted to prevarication 
when your attention was called to your violation of decorum 
by the Speaker. 

“ For this duplicate offense the House has directed that you 
be publicly censured at its bar. No words from the Chair in 
the performance of this most 
painful duty could possibly 
add to the gravity of the 
occasion or the severity of 
the punishment. It remains 
only to pronounce in the 
name of the House its cen¬ 
sure for the two offenses 
charged in the resolution.” 

The gentleman from 
Kentucky bowed, and in a 
quiet voice rejoined : 

“ Sir, I wish now to state 
that I intended no evasion 
or prevarication to the 
Speaker, and I will now 
add no disrespect to the 
House.” 

He was then discharged 

_ , . . . . “ And I have endeavored one other thing, sir—” 

from custody and permitted 

to return to his seat, and the House (at 5:35 P.M.), thinking it 
had done enough for the day, took a recess until the following 
morning at ten o’clock. 

On Friday, the 5th of February, the speech-making was 
brought to a close. After disposing of proposed amendments 
(among others one which was defeated, to substitute for the pro¬ 
visions of the House bill the text of the bill which had passed 


234 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


% 

the Senate), the House came to a vote on the passage of the 
bill. The Yeas and Nays were ordered; there were 162 Yeas, 
99 Nays. 

The bill then went to the Senate. Although the questions 
involved had been thoroughly debated at the previous session, 
the Senators expressed their views. The most noticeable argu¬ 
ment was that of Senator Carpenter against the bill—an argu¬ 
ment remarkable not only because made by a leader of the 
political party advocating the legislation, but because of the 
eloquent and powerful logic with which he assailed the con¬ 
stitutionality and policy of the measure. Nevertheless, by a 
vote of 38 to 26, it passed the Senate on the 27th of February, 
and before the Forty-third Congress came to an end on the 4th 
of March, it received the approval of the President. 

But I should not omit the sequel. After all this filibuster¬ 
ing, which had robbed the Senate-pages of their rest in 1874, 
and nearly paralyzed the pages of the House in 1875 ; after all 
this torrent of words and passion, and stirring up of sectional 
strife, the Supreme Court of the United States, a few years ago, 
declared the measure so attempted to be enacted into law to 
be, in all its essential features, in conflict with the Constitution 
and therefore inoperative and void ! * 

* The decision was rendered at its October term, 1883, and is reported in its 109th 
volume of Reports, at page 3, to which the reader is referred for information as to the 
exact provisions of the bill and the constitutional principles involved. 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 


INVESTIGATIONS. 

The members of the House are very jealous of their “ dig¬ 
nity.” They are often, as we have seen, careless enough about 
it themselves ; but woe to any other person who may dare to 
defy their authority! After a brief digression about other mat¬ 
ters, I will give you an instance illustrative of this fact as well 
as of the value of the Supreme Court. 

The Congressional elections in the fall of 1874 resulted in 
the defeat of the Republican party, which, for many years, 
had held uninterrupted control of the legislative and executive 
departments of the Government. With the close of the Forty- 
third Congress, the terms of all of the Representatives of course 
expired. The Republicans gave their Democratic friends a 
stormy farewell ; the Democrats, upon taking control of the 
Forty-fourth House, were to make things merry for the Repub¬ 
licans. 

In pursuance of a proclamation of the President, the Senate 
began a special session on the 5th of March, 1875. The newly- 
elected Senators were sworn in, the executive business sub¬ 
mitted by President Grant was disposed of, and on the 24th of 
the month the Senate adjourned sine die. Before adjourning, 
it was wise enough to choose a President pro tempore. Senator 
Ferry was appointed.* Within a short time of the day for reas- 

* Senator Carpenter, who had been President pro tempore , was among the outgoing 
Senators on the 4th of March, 1875. 


236 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


sembling, Vice-President Wilson died, and Senator Ferry be¬ 
came the Acting Vice-President of the United States. 

Upon Monday, the 6 th of December, 1875> began the first 
regular session of the Forty-fourth Congress, a session which, 
for length of days and vigor of proceedings, was destined to be¬ 
come historically eminent. Popular interest naturally centred 
in the organization of the House. Representative Kerr, of 
Indiana, was elected Speaker, and the Democrats further dis¬ 
played their power by appointing a new set of officers. As to 
the Representatives themselves, it is unnecessary to go into 
particulars. General Butler had been left behind at the last 
election, Representative Dawes had been transferred to the 
Senate, and other men conspicuous in the Forty-third Congress 
were missed from the Hall. Ex-Speaker Blaine and General 
Garfield were there; so, also, were Mr. Randall and Benjamin 
H. Hill and “Sunset” Cox. Under such circumstances and 
with such “ kindred spirits,” a peaceful session was out of all 
question. 

Just before the Christmas holidays, both Houses of Con¬ 
gress, the President, and the Supreme Court went to Philadel¬ 
phia to see the Centennial Exposition buildings and to sit down 
to a sumptuous banquet prepared for them by the people of 
that city. I remember that fact distinctly, because the pages 
were among the invited guests. As to exactly what else worth 
recording happened within the few weeks before Christmas, my 
memory is somewhat vague ; as to what occurred within a few 
weeks after, my memory is clear. The Amnesty Debate! 

That debate was simply ferocious ! It began in earnest when 
Mr. Blaine took the floor on Monday, the 10th of January, 1876; 
it raged with almost relentless fury from that time until the House 
came to a vote on Friday, January 14th. Blaine, Hill, Garfield, 
Randall, Cox, Banks—all the great orators of the House, locked 
horns. But I shall not discuss that discussion. I present the 


IN VES TIG A TIONS. 


237 


dates ; if inquisitive, you may consult the files of the press and 
read descriptions. The bill was defeated.* 

The next thing that happened involved questions of great 
constitutional consequence. Another digression, by way of ex¬ 
planation, and you shall hear about it. 

Not only has Congress the sole authority to make laws and 
grant supplies for the other departments of the Government, 
but, as a part of its general functions, it has supervisory pow¬ 
er over the manner in which they perform their duties. It 
watches carefully all their doings. It is continually calling up¬ 
on the President (either directly or through his Cabinet offi¬ 
cers) for information concerning foreign or domestic affairs, and 
thus keeps properly informed in regard to our relations with 
other nations and the internal interests of the country. This 
surveillance, or watch, is established over all proceedings, both 
great and small, in which the Republic is or may be interested. 

When Congress hears of any official misconduct or question¬ 
able transaction, affecting our glory or our pockets, it at once 
institutes an inquiry into the matter. This power of Con¬ 
gressional Inquiry may be exercised by the Senate and the 
House, either jointly or independently, and, in important mat¬ 
ters, special investigating committees are appointed. At about 
the time when I became a Senate-page, a great investigation 

* The 3d section of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution declares: " No per¬ 
son shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or Elector of President and 
Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or 
under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, 
or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an- 
executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United 
States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid 
or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a two-thirds vote of each 
House, remove such disability.” The effect of this provision was to impose political 
disabilities on many participants in the Civil War. The proposition before the House 
was to remove those disabilities—in short, a measure granting " general amnesty.” 
The debate was conducted on party lines—Democrats against Republicans. The vote 
stood, 184 to 97 ; two-thirds not voting in favor, the bill was lost. 


238 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 



was conducted into the career of the notorious “ Ku Klux 
Klan,” and some of the costumes worn by members of that 
order were introduced in evidence, and remained in the posses¬ 
sion of the Sergeant-at-Arms. These costumes we pages would 

delightedly don in our 
night-session pilgrim¬ 
ages, and wander, a 
silent but awful band, 
through the corridors 
and rooms of the Capi¬ 
tol, to the consternation 
of all visitors. If you 
have ever seen one of 
these weird, fantastic 
outfits, you can im¬ 
agine the hideous spec¬ 
tacle we presented. 

There are always 
Congressional commit¬ 
tees at work investi¬ 
gating something or 
other, and much money 
is annually consumed 
in the pursuit of infor¬ 
mation. Sometimes 
the committees trav¬ 
erse the country dur¬ 
ing the vacations of Congress, stopping at various places to 
take the testimony of witnesses ; and, during the sessions of 
Congress, the Sergeants-at-Arms of both bodies, or their dep¬ 
uties, scour the continent after unwilling witnesses, and bring 
them to Washington for examination before the committees. 
In one case of investigation, Mr. Christie, whose duties are 


A Midnight Frolic. 







1NVESTIGA TIONS. 


239 


practically those of Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, 
was fourteen days chasing\a single witness over the United 
States—but he caught him ! 

To enable them to conduct their investigations as thorough¬ 
ly as possible, these committees are empowered to summon, 
swear, and examine witnesses, and to require the production of 
books and papers, and to this extent they resemble judicial 
bodies. To refuse to testify or produce papers, therefore, is to 
defy the authority of Congress ; and for such a refusal—no 
matter on what ground it is based—a man summoned as a wit¬ 
ness may be punished by a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment in 
a common jail for twelve months. That is the worst that can 
happen to him.* But there is one great restriction to be noted. 
The law-makers cannot inflict the punishment; they muse turn 
the matter over to the United States Attorney for the District 
of Columbia, and give the offender a trial by jury in a court. 
At least, so reads that law. 

Yet while Congress knows very well that it cannot try pri¬ 
vate citizens for misdemeanors, still it has frequently claimed 
the right to punish obstinate witnesses for contempt of its 
authority. And it has actually punished them ! It is like the 
man of whom we have read. His lawyer called at the jail to 
see him, and heard his case. “ Why, my dear fellow,” said the 
lawyer, “ they can’t put you in jail for that ! ” “ That may be,” 
said the man, as he peered through the iron bars of his cell, 
“ but—they have put me here for it ! ” 

Now, with this explanation, you will better understand the 
important matter that came up in one of these investigations, 
and which finally resulted in settling the great question as to 
the power of Congress to punish for “ contempt ”—a proceed¬ 
ing which, in its very nature, is a judicial and not a legislative 
act. 

* The least penalty is a fine of $100 and one month in jail. 


240 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


A certain citizen of this country owed the Government some 
money, and a committee of the House of Representatives of 
the Forty-fourth Congress, wishing to find out something about 
his financial condition, made an investigation. They summoned 
witnesses and questioned them. One of these witnesses, by 
the name of Hallet Kilbourn, but whom, for short, I shall call 
by the legal name of John Doe, was a real-estate broker, and 
the committee commanded him to bring the books of his busi¬ 
ness for examination. Mr. Doe thought that the committee 
had no right to inquire into his personal affairs, and he refused 
to answer its questions or to produce the books. 

The committee became very indignant, and reported the mat¬ 
ter to the House. That body stood by its committee, and 
ordered its Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest Mr. Doe, the recusant 
witness. The Sergeant-at-Arms did as he was commanded, and 
(on the 14th of March, 1876) brought Mr. Doe before the bar 
of the House, like a prisoner of state. Speaker Kerr asked him 
if he was prepared to answer the questions and produce the 
books. Then Mr. Doe presented a written statement, giving his 
reasons for declining to obey the House. 

But the House was not satisfied with his explanation, and 
declared that he should be punished as guilty of contempt of its 
dignity and authority. It therefore ordered the Sergeant-at- 
Arms to keep him in custody in the common jail of the District 
of Columbia until he should notify the House of his readiness 
to comply with its commands. So he was marched off to prison 
and put into a cell. As he afterward s^iid, it was not a very 
luxurious place of abode, but he “ had 4 variety of scenery— 
toward the north and east were the swamps and marshes of the 
Potomac ; to the south, the work-house, poor-house, and ceme¬ 
tery ; and looking toward the west he could see the Goddess 
of Liberty on the dome of the Capitol, and occasionally get a 
glimpse of the star-spangled banner—that grand emblem of the 


INVESTIGA TIONS. 


241 


freedom of American citizens—floating from the top of the 
House of Representatives! ” 

He had a good time, however, for a while. He regarded 
himself as the guest of the nation—like King Kalakaua—and 
he used to order good dinners at the jail, and invite his friends 
to join him at the expense of the Government. But the House 
of Representatives heard of this ; its members grew more in¬ 
dignant than ever, and directed that he should not be allowed 
anything beyond the ordinary prison-fare of ordinary criminals 
sojourning at that rural retreat. This was too much for Mr. 
Doe. He determined to get out of jail. He applied to the 
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia to protect him. A 
w T rit of habeas corpus * was issued in his behalf, and he was 
brought before the court. After a long argument, the Chief 
Justice of the District decided that his imprisonment by the 
House of Representatives was illegal, and ordered him to be 
set free. So, after forty-five days of durance vile, Mr. Doe was 
allowed to return to his fireside and business. 

But the matter did not end there. Mr. Doe considered 
the action of the House an indignity, and he brought suit (in 
the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia) against the 
Sergeant-at-Arms, the Speaker, and the members of the 
House who had caused the arrest, claiming damages in a 
large sum. 

That case finally reached the Supreme Court of the United 
States, where it was decided that the House of Representa¬ 
tives had done wrong.t The Court admitted that the House 
could exercise a few powers somewhat judicial in their nature, 
under the express provisions of the Constitution , and, where 

* “ You may have the body.” A writ very important to imprisoned citizens, and 
the privilege of which cannot be suspended unless in cases of rebellion or invasion the 
public safety require it. So says the Constitution. 

f This important decision was rendered by the Supreme Court at its October term, 
1880, and may be found in its 103d volume of Reports (13th Otto), at page 168. 

16 


242 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


the examination of witnesses is necessary to the performance oj 
its co 7 istitational duties, could fine or imprison a contumacious 
witness ; but that there is not found in the Constitution of the 
United States any general power vested in either House to pun¬ 
ish for “ contempt.” 

And the decision went further than that. It declared that 
Congress had no right to inquire into the “ private affairs ” of a 
citizen, as it had attempted to do, through its investigating com¬ 
mittee, in order to find out something about the financial con¬ 
dition of a Government debtor; that such an investigation is 
judicial in its character, not legislative, and therefore belongs 
to the courts—not to Congress. 

The affair produced quite a sensation at the time, and many 
people thought that the members who instigated this attack on 
the rights of an American citizen should have been imprisoned 
instead of Mr. Doe. The Supreme Court, however, held that— 
while the Sergeant-at-Arms was liable to a suit at law for the 
wrong which he had helped the Congressmen to commit— they 
(the members) could not be sued or punished, because of the 
provision of the Constitution to which I have before referred 
that exempts Congressmen from responsibility for anything said 
in debate. 

So Mr. Doe’s suit for damages to his business and reputa¬ 
tion was continued as against the Sergeant-at-Arms ; and after 
a number of verdicts, and a number of arguments by a number 
of lawyers, a judgment was recently rendered against the Ser¬ 
geant-at-Arms for $20,000 and the costs of suit. Of course 
that officer had simply obeyed the orders of the House in 
arresting and imprisoning Mr. Doe, and consequently it was 
supposed by the jury that whatever judgment was rendered 
against him Congress would appropriate the money to sat¬ 
isfy. That is what everyone else “ supposed ” too. And they 
were all correct in their conjectures, for, at the last session of the 


IN VES JIG A TIO NS. 


243 


last Congress,* an appropriation was made covering the entire 
judgment, and giving some money besides, to the Sergeant-at- 
Arms and his lawyers for their zeal and trouble in defending 
the “ right” of the House. In all, the appropriation amounted 
to about $30,000, and I presume Mr. Doe and the Sergeant- 
at-Arms became warm friends. 

But the Public Treasury has had to pay for a Congressional 
mistake. 

* March, 1885. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL. 

It is the constitutional right of the House of Representa¬ 
tives, if it believes the President, the Vice-President, or any civil 
officer of the Government, guilty of “ treason, bribery, or other 
high crimes and misdemeanors,” to take steps to have such per¬ 
son put upon trial and, if proved guilty, removed from office. 
In such case the House makes a charge against the officer, 
called an “ impeachment,” and it then becomes the duty of the 
Senate to try the truth of this charge, thus, for the time being, 
turning itself into a court. When the President of the United 
States is tried the Chief Justice acts as presiding officer, other¬ 
wise the President of the Senate officiates. If found guilty by 
two-thirds of the Senators present, the person so accused may 
be removed from his position and disqualified from holding any 
other office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States. 
That is as far as Congress can go toward punishing him ; any 
further punishment must be imposed by the ordinary courts of 
justice after a regular trial by jury, as in other offences against 
the law. 

An impeachment trial is an awe-inspiring affair. Many of 
you have heard about the impeachment of President Johnson. 
Well, think of it! Think of the House of Representatives, sol¬ 
emnly, in the name of the people of this great country, arraign¬ 
ing the President at the bar of the Senate ; and think of the 
Senate, presided over by the Chief Justice of the United States, 


AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL. 


245 


sitting in judgment, possessing the power to remove the head 
of the Republic from office ! In all the range of human pomp 
and power, what spectacle more imposing, what tribunal more 
august, can your fancies picture ? 

The House of Representatives of the Forty-fourth Congress 
kept a number of investigating committees at work. The 
Democrats, as I have said, were in control of the House, and 
they were vigilantly overhauling the Republican administra¬ 
tion of the Government. In groping about after official error 
and delinquency on the part of their opponents, one of the 
committees of the House came to the conclusion that it had 
found a culprit in the person of a distinguished ex-member of 
the Cabinet, a gentleman who had until within a few days been 
the Secretary of War. As I took the liberty of calling Mr. 
Kilbourn by the name of John Doe, I shall call this official by 
the name of Doe’s fictitious associate, Richard Roe. 

The committee recommended to the House that “ Richard 
Roe, late Secretary of War, be impeached of high crimes and 
misdemeanors while in office.” This was on the 2d of March, 
1876. I give the dates, that you may realize the deliberate 
manner in which each body moved. 

The House adopted the recommendation, and appointed a 
committee of five members to proceed to the bar of the Senate, 
there to impeach Richard Roe, late Secretary of War, of high 
crimes and misdemeanors, and to request the Senate to take 
proper action. The next day members of the committee so 
appointed appeared in the Senate, and, being duly announced 
by the Sergeant-at-Arms, they marched down the broad centre 
aisle to the bottom step, where they paused. Then Represen¬ 
tative Clymer, the chairman of the committee, in a very effec¬ 
tive style of oratory, said : 

“ Mr. President : In obedience to the order of the House 
of Representatives we appear before you, and in the name of 


246 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


the House of Representatives and of all the people of the 
United States of America, we do impeach Richard Roe, late 
Secretary of War, of high crimes and misdemeanors while in 
office ; and we further inform the Senate that the House of 
Representatives will in due time exhibit articles of impeach¬ 
ment against him, and make good the same. And in their 
name we demand that the Senate shall take order for the ap¬ 
pearance of the said Richard Roe to answer said impeachment.” 

Then the committee retired. Subsequently the House pre¬ 
pared the articles, and appointed seven of its members as 
managers to conduct the impeachment. On the 4th of April 
these managers appeared at the bar of the Senate and were an¬ 
nounced. The chief manager, Mr. Lord, then spoke as follows : 

“ Mr. President, the managers on the part of the House of 
Representatives are ready to exhibit on the part of the House 
articles of impeachment against Richard Roe, late Secretary of 
War.” 

The President pro tempore (Senator Ferry) at once said : 
“ The Sergeant-at-Arms will make proclamation.” 

Thereupon Mr. French, the Sergeant-at-Arms, arose from his 
chair on the right of the presiding officer and walked to the end 
of the Secretary’s desk, where he cried out, in a loud voice : 

“Hear ye! hear ye ! hear ye ! All persons are commanded 
to keep silence, on pain of imprisonment, while the House of 
Representatives is exhibiting to the Senate of the United 
States articles of impeachment against Richard Roe, late Sec¬ 
retary of War.” 

The chief manager then read the articles of impeachment, 
which contained a statement of the alleged misbehavior of the 
ex-officer, after which the President pro tempore said : “ The 
Chair informs the managers that the Senate will take proper 
order on the subject of the impeachment, of which due notice 
shall be given to the House of Representatives.” 


AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL. 


247 


The next day the Senate organized itself as a court. The 
Chief Justice of the United States was sent for, and he adminis¬ 
tered to the President//^ tempore and each of the Senators pres¬ 
ent, the following oath: “You do solemnly swear that in all 
things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Richard 
Roe, late Secretary of War, now pending, you will do impartial 
justice according to the Constitution and laws. So help you God.” 

On the 17th of April the trial formally began. On that day 
the Capitol was literally packed with people, all eager to wit¬ 
ness the uncommon and imposing proceedings. The Senate 
transacted its usual business for half an hour, when the Presi¬ 
dent pro tempore , striking with his gavel, arrested debate and 
made this announcement: 

“ The hour of twelve o’clock and thirty minutes having ar¬ 
rived, in pursuance of rule the legislative and executive busi¬ 
ness of the Senate will be suspended and the Senate will 
proceed to the consideration of the articles of impeachment 
exhibited by the House of Representatives against Richard 
Roe, late Secretary of War.” 

He then ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to make proclama¬ 
tion, which was done as follows—a form of proclamation 
thereafter made by Mr. French regularly every day at the 
opening of the court: 

“ Hear ye ! hear ye ! hear ye ! All persons are commanded 
to keep silence, on pain of imprisonment, while the Senate of 
the United States is sitting for the trial of the articles of im¬ 
peachment exhibited by the House of Representatives against 
Richard Roe, late Secretary of War.” 

The Chief Justice administered the oath to such Senators 
present as had not been sworn ; and the Secretary was in¬ 
structed to notify the House that the Senate was ready to pro¬ 
ceed with the trial, and that seats were provided for the 
accommodation of the members. 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


.an a few minutes Richard Roe and his counsel entered, 
they took seats at a long table to the right of the Secretary’s 
uesk. After them, the managers on the part of the House were 
announced, and they took seats at another long table to the 
left of the desk. 

Mr. Lord stated that the House of Representatives had re¬ 
solved itself into a Committee of the Whole and would attend 
on being waited upon by the Sergeant-at-Arms. Mr. French 
was accordingly despatched to the House, and in about three 
minutes he returned, followed by the Chairman of the Commit¬ 
tee of the Whole, the Speaker, the Clerk, and the members of 
the House. 

Mr. French having made oath that he had served upon 
Richard Roe the summons of the Senate, notifying him to be 
present, the President pro tempore instructed him to “ call 
Richard Roe, the respondent, to appear and answer the charges 
of impeachment brought against him.” So Mr. French again 
took his stand at the end of the Secretary’s table, and shouted 
away as if the late Secretary of War were in Alaska, instead of 
sitting serenely in front of the desk : 

“ Richard Roe, Richard Roe, appearand answer the articles 
of impeachment exhibited against you by the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives.” 

Then stood up ex-Senator Carpenter, one of the counsel for 
Mr. Roe, and one of the most brilliant lawyers this country has 
ever seen. Running his fingers through his long, iron-gray 
locks he gave his head a shake, and in his fiery, dashing style, 
thus answered for his client: 

“Mr. President: Richard Roe, a private citizen of the 
United States and of the State of Iowa, in obedience to the 
summons of the Senate as a court of impeachment to try 
the articles presented against him by the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives of the United States, appears at the bar of the 


AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL . 249 

Senate sitting as a court of impeachment and interposes the 
following plea.” 

The plea stated that, as the respondent, Richard Roe, was 
not then an officer of the Government, but a private citizen of 
the United States, the House had no right to impeach and the 
Senate was without authority to try him—in other words, that 
the Senate had no jurisdiction over him. 

This “ plea to the jurisdiction ” raised an important question 
of constitutional law at the very threshold of the trial, and 
nothing could be done until its decision. The Senators debated 
the matter for days, the arguments being made with closed 
doors, just as in executive session, and did not reach a decision 
for a month or more. On the 1st day of June a majority of the 
Senators concluded that the Senate had jurisdiction—that is, 
that it had a right to try the articles of impeachment, notwith¬ 
standing the fact that the respondent was not an officer of the 
Government at the time of the impeachment. 

After another month consumed in legal parleying and de¬ 
lays, the Senate, on the 6th of July, proceeded with the trial as 
on the plea of “ not guilty.” Opening speeches having been 
made, witnesses were produced by the managers to testify 
against the respondent, and they were examined and cross- 
examined, and their statements sifted by redirect-examination 
and recross-examination. Then other witnesses were produced 
by the respondent to answer the statements of the witnesses on 
the part of the managers. On the 19th of July evidence was 
closed, and arguments were then made by the managers and 
counsel for respondent. These arguments were many and elab¬ 
orate, and lasted from the 20th to the 27th of July. 

At length, on Tuesday, August 1st, a vote was taken by 
the Senate upon the guilt or innocence of the accused. There 
were five distinct charges, or articles of impeachment, and a 
separate vote was taken on each article. For instance, the first 


250 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


article was read, and then the President of the Senate asked 
each Senator this question : 

“ Mr. Senator-, how say you? Is the respondent, 

Richard Roe, guilty or not guilty of high crimes and misde¬ 
meanors as charged in this article ? ” 

To which the Senators responded, the responses were re¬ 
corded, and the vote announced. Then the second article was 
read, the same question propounded to the Senators, and so 
on through the series of articles. 

The result was that the respondent was acquitted upon each 
and every one of the five articles of impeachment exhibited by 
the House against him, and a judgment of acquittal was accord¬ 
ingly entered by the Secretary. Senator Edmunds then made 
a motion that the Senate sitting for that trial adjourn without 
day ; and the motion being agreed to, the President pro tempore 
said : 

“ The Senate, sitting for the trial of the impeachment of 
Richard Roe, stands adjourned without day.” 

Whereupon the Senate threw off its judicial robes* and re¬ 
turned to its other business. And so the long and great trial 
came to an end, and the gentleman who had been impeached 
by the House of Representatives went out into the world, with 
all his rights and privileges of citizenship preserved, and with 
the congratulations of his many friends. 

Of course, during this long period the Senate had not neg¬ 
lected its legislative duties. It would meet at the ordinary 
hour and go ahead with its ordinary work, then suspend it and 
proceed with the trial for a few hours, then suspend the trial 
and go back to legislation, and then perhaps conclude the day 
with an executive session—all being done continuously, without 
interruptions by recess or other loss of time. It is rather in- 

* A figure of speech, by the way, for only the Justices of the Supreme Court wear 
judicial toggery. 



AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL. 


251 


teresting to think of the Senate in one day doing so many differ¬ 
ent things—now attending to legislative, now to executive, now 
to judicial, and now resuming its legislative business. But it 
did it. 

So you see that the Senate of the United States, with its 
variety of powers, is, after all, a decidedly peculiar, versatile, 
and majestic body. 


CHAPTER XXX. 


DIVERSIONS. 

As we pages shared with the law-makers the onerous work of 
legislation, it was but fair that we should share the legislative 
pleasures. “ Partakers in every peril, in the glory we were en¬ 
titled to participate.” The justice of this principle was never 
disputed; and accordingly, whenever or wherever senatorial 
ceremonies or festivities were under way, we were to be found 
in the company of the Senators. 

During the first session of the Forty-fourth Congress we 
took part in two gala frolics. To one of these I have incident¬ 
ally referred. You have all heard of the great Centennial Ex¬ 
position of 1876. While the buildings were being erected the 
citizens of Philadelphia invited the members of the Senate and 
House, together with the President and his Cabinet, the Justices 
of the Supreme Court, and certain other Government officials, 
to visit that city and see how the work was progressing. The 
invitation was accepted. Quite a number of pages went along, 
and this holiday journey did not cost any of us a cent. A spe¬ 
cial train was provided, and on Friday, the 17th of December, 
1875, we said au revoir to Washington and started on our jour¬ 
ney to the Quaker City. We reached the station in West 
Philadelphia in the evening. Carriages were in waiting, and 
the members of the visiting party were driven to hotels, and, 
on the morrow, to the Exposition grounds. 

Arriving there, we were shown various buildings and sights, 





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DIVERSIONS. 


253 


and then taken to Horticultural Hall, where the gayeties were 
to culminate in a grand banquet. Great preparations had been 
made. In the centre of the large room were thirteen long 
tables, and all around us were exotics and other choice plants 
and flowers. President Grant was given the seat of honor at 
the middle table, and the other guests were distributed about 
miscellaneously, we pages selecting some special tables where 
we could have a good time and enjoy the feast undisturbed. 

When all the guests at the other tables had done justice to 
the viands, the remainder of the time was devoted to speech¬ 
making. But the fact that we were still busily engaged in sat¬ 
isfying the appetites of boys is my excuse for not giving you a 
more detailed description of the doings of our seniors. 

Later on, we made another journey to Philadelphia. The 
members of Congress received an invitation to attend the open¬ 
ing of the Exposition, and, as before, the pages went too. On 
the 9th of May, 1876, cars were placed at the Senators’ disposal, 
and most of the pages left on the early train. We had to take 
a roundabout journey this time by the way of York, Penn. ; 
but we enjoyed it. Whenever the cars stopped, if only for 
an instant, we would spring to the ground and then jump 
back again. I suppose many people wondered at the meaning 
of this. Our object, however, was to be able to say that we 
had honored the soil of that particular place by touching it. 
As we crossed the Susquehanna River the train “ slowed-up,” 
and we alighted upon the long bridge and began to admire the 
river. Some of the pages came from the rear car, and so lost 
in their study of the scenery did they become that they only 
recovered their wits in time to see the train darting through the 
town of Columbia, half a mile away from them. It was fortu¬ 
nate that it was the first section of the Congressional train. 
After waiting for several hours, they boarded the second sec¬ 
tion ; but I think the little episode of the bridge caused them 


254 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


to take no further interest in the scenery during the remainder 
of the trip. 

On the next day the great exhibition was formally opened.* 
It was a glorious affair. The proceedings were witnessed by 
the Senators and pages and other guests from the grand stand 
erected for their accommodation ; and by tens of thousands of 
other visitors massed upon the grounds. And on the following 
day the Congressional train carried back to Washington a 
goodly company of law-makers, among whom none were more 
weary from the unusual exertions of the great ceremonial than 
the Senate-pages. 

It is scarcely necessary to state that we were not obliged to 
go away from Washington for diversion. We made the most 
of our leisure time during a session. Nearly every morning in 
fair weather we played match games of base-ball with the 
House-pages, in the large plaza east of the Capitol. Usually 
the screaming of the whistles at twelve o’clock would stop us in 
the middle of a game, and we would rush into the Senate-cham¬ 
ber just in time to hear the Vice-President pronounce the words, 
“ The Senate will come to order ! ” It required a great amount 
of will-power for a troop of boys to leave an exciting contest of 
ball and, within a minute, change to the hard mental work of 
legislation. That we did it, shows the versatility of our talents. 

Frequently a Senator, about to enter the Capitol, would 
pause for a short time to take part in our game, and it was no 
uncommon sight to see a dignified law-maker jumping from the 
ground to catch a ball flying above his head, while it was even 
less uncommon to see him “ muff” or miss it altogether. Still, 
they were merely a little out of practise—so they said—and 
they enjoyed the sport as much as we enjoyed it. 

General Garfield, while a member of the House, often played 
truant and ran out into the suburbs of the city to witness this 
favorite pastime, when his presence was perhaps needed at the 


DIVERSIONS. 


255 


Capitol. I remember one afternoon when he reached the stand 
on the grounds a few minutes after I did. I was leaning against 
the front rail of the platform, and, clapping me on the shoulder, 
he asked, “ Who’s ahead ? ” I gave him the information, and 
he thereupon became so interested in the game that he seemed 
unaware that his heavy weight upon my little body was, to 
say the least, inconvenient. He was constantly exclaiming : 
“Good catch!” “Fine hit!” “Oh! what a muff!” and 
other well-known extracts from base-ball language, and he 
soon grew so vehement as to make me feel the effects. I 
thought it wise to move to a place of safety, and finally suc¬ 
ceeded in edging away through the crowd, “somewhat the 
worse for wear.” 

On summer evenings we would go boating on the beauti¬ 
ful Potomac, and prove on the water, as well as on the land, our 
superiority over our rivals of the Lower House. Four of us 
once put off in a row-boat—a delicate outrigger—and pulled up 
the Potomac as far as the rapids, and then we turned about. 
On the homeward trip we had a pleasant time for a spell—now 
singing a choice selection from an opera, now quietly gliding 
along with no sound but that made by our oars. But as we 
neared the city the other pleasure parties gradually retired, 
and the river was left entirely to us. Having no one else to 
bother, we had but one recourse for excitement, to row a race 
between ourselves. As we were all in the same boat, this feat 
may seem to the average intelligence quite impossible. Here 
we manifested our genius. Two of us pulled one way and two 
the other ! It was an interesting tug of war. For some time 
the little craft remained almost motionless in the stream ; but 
finally, as in the old-time wagers of battle, Might prevailed and 
the shoreward oars won the victory. 

Even when at work the statesmen managed to contribute to 
our pleasure ; and from this fact, and from our efforts to recipro- 


256 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


cate, it may justly be inferred that the proceedings of the Senate 
were not always so sombre as I may have led you to suppose. 
The traditional decorum of that body was occasionally disturbed 
by laughter ; though I noticed that it was usually a mild, gen¬ 
tlemanly sort of laughter. There was nothing wrong about 
that, for things occurred which rendered laughter necessary ; it 
really would have been impolite not to laugh. 

Certain Senators could not rise to address the Senate but it 
would be a signal to prepare for amusement. There was a 
galaxy of humorous speakers, beneath whose pleasantries, how¬ 
ever, lay good common-sense. There were, also, quaint talk¬ 
ers, who expressed their views in a peculiar style that charmed 
the ear by its novelty ; there were impassioned, eloquent Sena¬ 
tors ; there were keen, quick debaters ; and there were orator¬ 
ical logicians. Many of the Senators were masters of rhetoric, 
and when they spoke their associates and the people in the 
galleries gave the closest attention. A few, belonging to a 
class known as “ sledge-hammer orators,” were not so fastidious 
about rhetoric and syntax ; they rained down clinching blows 
of logic, but they sometimes damaged the English language 
as well as silenced their antagonists. One of them was making 
a very strong argument against certain propositions advanced by 
the Opposition ; and he concluded each point with the words : 
“ Now, Mr. President, I ask, Can it be did? I repeat, Can it 
be did?” After pausing to give any other Senator a chance 
to say that it could ** be did,” he brought his fist down upon 
the desk, with a force that made the ink-well rattle, and added : 
“ No, Mr. President, it can not be did ! It can not be did ! ! ” 
And then he proceeded to show that something else proposed 
by the other side could not be did. Those remarks, as may be 
taken for granted, were revised by the official reporters before 
publication in the Record. 

Some of the Senators had interesting eccentricities of gest- 


DIVERSIONS. 


257 


ure. For example, Senator Howe always threw one of his 
legs across the arm of a chair when beginning a speech, and 
kept it there until he finished. Senator Kernan had a habit 
of striking out with his hands exactly like the movements of 
a swimmer ; that was the only gesture I ever saw him make. 
Senator Carpenter usually spoke with his hands in his pockets. 
Senator Nye generally turned his back upon the Vice-President 
and talked to the ladies in the gallery; from his attitude, a 
stranger might have been pardoned for assuming that the pre¬ 
siding officer of the Senate sat upon the roof. 

Senator Oglesby, however, had entirely original methods of 
emphasizing his remarks. I well remember one instance. He 
had the floor on a question of great national interest, and spoke 
with marked effect. During the speech he pushed aside the 
chairs near his desk, and as his eloquence increased he ex¬ 
citedly paced back and forth in the space thus cleared. With a 
grand flourish of words he concluded. The people in the gal¬ 
leries started an applause. I could hear it coming, like the 
rumbling of distant thunder. The Senator knew that he had 
scored a triumph, and, casting upon the other law-makers a 
compassionate smile, he sat down—upon the floor ! 

Even accidents gave rise to mirth. Senator Pratt occupied 
a seat on the back row, and every day he used to roll up his 
heavy Record into a tight package, ready for mailing, and toss 
it to the pages. At times, when they were stretched out in 
lazy attitudes, he would try to rouse them. Once, when he 
wished to have some extra fun, he stood up and threw the 
package, apparently with all his might. But either he did 
not take good aim or his arm slipped, for the Record whizzed 
through the air and struck Senator Anthony on the back of the 
head. With a cry of pain, that venerable Senator jumped to 
his feet, his eyes glistening with astonishment and vengeance. 
Turning fiercely around (expecting, perchance, to fasten the 


25B 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


guilt upon a page), he saw Mr. Pratt bowing profoundly and 
profusely, the other Senators smiling. So Mr. Anthony forced 
a smile to his own face, and with an elegant obeisance, that sig¬ 
nified “ Oh ! it didn’t hurt; do it again if you wish,” he re¬ 
sumed his seat. But he rubbed his head for an hour or more. 

Indeed, the veriest trifles sometimes sufficed to arouse the 
merriment of the Senate and furnish entertainment to the gal¬ 
leries. 

A Senator over on the Democratic side of the Chamber 
sailed a letter into the air. It travelled in a series of eccentric 
and graceful curves. The pages ran and took up different po¬ 
sitions where they thought it would fall, and the confusion 
caused the Senators to pause in their proceedings and watch 
the affair. I was at the extreme end of the Republican side, 
near the eastern door of the room, and a current of air in the 
upper regions seized the missive and bore it swiftly toward me. 
As it went floating over my head, I made a leap and (by the 
merest chance) caught it between the first and second fingers of 
my left hand. The achievement was thoroughly appreciated. 

My early experience in executive session apparently caused 
Senator Sumner to take a lively interest in me, and he seemed 
to acquire an especial fondness for catching me by the ears. 
Often have I attempted to pass the Senator, while he would be 
walking to and fro on the floor of the Senate, only to have both 
my ears seized good-naturedly, and to be asked some kindly 
question. I shall always remember one of these adventures. 
He had sent me on an errand. Having returned, reported to 
him the answer, and received his Beep-voiced thanks, I started 
to move away, but he had caught me, and continued his slow 
march—I in front, Indian file. As he was a tall man and I a 
very small boy in comparison, I had to walk on tiptoe to ease 
the pain, and even then it seemed as if my ear would come off 
my head. The worst of it was that he at once became so lost in 



The Page's Adventure with Senator Sumner. 









































































DIVERSIONS. 


259 


thought that he forgot he had hold of me, and mechanically paced 
up and down, with his long strides, while I danced a mild war- 
dance for some minutes—it seemed to me hours—to the intense 
amusement of all who observed it. The more I struggled, the 
more did I increase the agony, but I at last managed to wriggle 
away from his grasp. The sudden emptiness of his hand caused 
him to realize the state of affairs, and he begged my pardon so 
energetically, and the spectators smiled so audibly, that the 
proceedings of the Senate were interrupted and Mr. Colfax act¬ 
ually had to tap with his gavel to restore order ! 

The best performances were in the shape of pantomimes, in 
which the pages acted the parts of harlequins. A few of us, 
perhaps, did not have too exalted notions of senatorial dignity ; 
others meant well but were too impetuous in their movements ; 
but we all had one characteristic highly developed—a magical 
way of mysteriously disappearing when wanted and re-appear¬ 
ing when and where least expected. 

Once there was something of unusual seriousness being con¬ 
sidered in the Senate; the galleries were filled, and the solem¬ 
nity of the proceedings was simply awful! Nearly all of the 
pages were gathered on the Republican side of the Chair, and 
looked liked so many penguins as they sat closely together on 
the lower steps. For a wonder, they were actually sitting still 
and behaving themselves. Their heads were bending over, as 
if they were studying the carpet, when another page, on the 
Democratic side, seeing the state of affairs, took a handful of 
snuff from one of the boxes and, making a rapid detour of the 
desk, passed his hand beneath the noses of the dozen boys. 
The deafening concert that ensued completely upset the gravity 
of the Senate. 

On warm summer nights the bats would fly through the 
open windows of the Marble Room, and, crossing the lobby, 
dash about the Chamber in a bewildering style. Their gyra- 


26 o 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


tions were as nothing, however, in comparison with the antics 
of the chasing pages endeavoring to drive them from the room. 

In racing for messages and turning corners some of the 
boys would not take the precaution to moderate their speed, 
and, as a consequence, they were continually slipping and fall¬ 
ing. One in particular seemed to make a specialty of slipping 
down on the large brass register in front of the Secretary’s 
desk. 

Senator Morton signalled for a page, and three exerted their 
best powers to reach him. They were all in a bunch, and the 
race was so exciting and the distance so short that they could 
not check themselves in time. The trio struck the desk, nearly 
wrenching it from its fastenings, and one of the pages went 
over into the Senator’s lap. It shook the statesman’s nerves ; 
it vexed him ; he grasped his cane, and struck at the offenders. 
But he merely hit the air; there were no boys in sight. Not 
only had the culprits disappeared, but all the other pages, an¬ 
ticipating trouble, had prudently absconded. In the course of 
five or ten minutes, after the breeze had somewhat subsided, a 
few of them returned—one timidly entering one door, another 
cautiously emerging through another aperture, and so on. 
But most of them kept out longer, and their heads could be 
seen from the Chamber shooting past the gallery doors in the 
corridors above. 

The best incident of this nature occurred while Mr. Wilson 
was Vice-President. He called for a page, and as nearly all of 
them were idle there was quite a stampede for the message 
from either side of his table. The result was a collision which 
knocked over the chair and sent the Vice-President of the Re¬ 
public sprawling toward the floor. The attention of the spec¬ 
tators was divided. Some saw Captain Bassett spring from his 
seat and arrest the presiding officer in his downward course, 
the broken chair removed, and another one brought in. 


DIVERSIONS. 


261 


Others, it may be said with slight poetic license, felt a peculiar 
movement of the atmosphere, as if a meteoric body had rushed 
through the room, and just caught a glimpse of a score of heels 
disappearing through the various doors ! 

The House-pages, it may be taken for granted, were not far 
behind us in matters of this sort. Their movements, to be sure, 
were not ordinarily as noticeable as were those of the Senate- 
pages, because of the confusion and greater number of occu¬ 
pants of the Hall; but, notwithstanding these disadvantages, 
they occasionally managed to secure recognition for their pecu¬ 
liar talents. 

The reputation of one page of former times, whose surname 
was abbreviated to “ Van,” descended to the generation of my 
day as that of a boy who was over much given to mischief 
and startling surprises. The ceiling of the House-hall, like 
that of the Senate-chamber, is of glass, through which the rays 
of the sun by day, and the jets of gas by night, struggle to 
shine. It was always esteemed by the pages a high privi¬ 
lege to be allowed to go above this ceiling when the electrician 
was at his evening work, and wander over the board-walks be¬ 
tween the rows of panes. One day at dusk, as the Representa¬ 
tives were watching from below the process of illumination an 
awful crash was heard, and down upon the heads of a group of 
law-makers came a deluge of heavy glass. When tranquillity 
Avas regained the members looked aloft. What they saw was 
a pair of youthful legs dangling through the ceiling. The re¬ 
mainder of the body was not visible, but the Representatives 
had no misgivings as to the ownership of the legs. They 
breathed a sigh of relief and, Avith one voice, exclaimed : 
“ Hurrah for Van ! ” 

While on the subject of House-boys, I may say that their 
achievements within the Capitol were no more ludicrous than 
those without. They Avere not so scientific as the Senate- 


262 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


pages, and lost what prestige they may ever have had as oars¬ 
men by one disaster. Not many years ago a canal flowed 
through the streets of Washington—that is, if such thick and 
sluggish waters as it contained can be properly said to “ flow.’ 
It was a useless disfigurement of the city ; but it was near the 
Capitol, and it served the purposes of the pages. 

One morning about fifteen of the boys—all pages of the 
House—decided to while away an hour or two upon the 
“placid bosom” of this canal. Finding a rickety and aban¬ 
doned raft, they boarded it and poled their way along with 
piratical enthusiasm. They had not gone far when they ob¬ 
served the flag floating from the Capitol announcing that the 
House had convened for the day. Applying their united 
strength, they attempted, with one herculean shove, to send 
the raft to land. But, alas ! their effort was too great. The 
raft capsized, and in an instant the shipwrecked mariners were 
struggling with the “ waves ! ” When fished out they were 
the most wretched-looking objects imaginable. Their uniforms 
were completely spoiled. 

Mischievous doings were not, however, confined to the 
pages. That “ men are but children of a larger growth ” is 
not only recognized by both Houses of Congress in the rules 
established to prevent disorder, but the truth of the adage so 
far as the law-makers and officers of the Senate and House are 
concerned has been confirmed by countless episodes. A Con¬ 
gressional exploit shortly before my time is conclusive evidence 
on this point. 

When I first went to Washington the western approach to 
the Capitol, before the pending “ improvements” were com¬ 
menced, was through a fine old park, the heavy foliage of 
which in spring concealed much of the Capitol from view—the 
excuse given for the subsequent destruction of the park. The 
approach then led up two steep parallel terraces, which extended 


DIVERSIONS. 


263 



the whole length of the building. The pages, in winter time, 
took advantage of these declivities for coasting. Instead of 
sleds, however, they used certain 
large paste-board envelope-boxes, 
which they obtained from the fold¬ 
ing-rooms. 

One day, so the legend goes, 
the terraces and park grounds were 


Tobogganing Extraordinary. 


covered with a thick, hard coat of sleet; so the envelope- 
1 oxes were brought out, and the lively tobogganing began. 
During the course of the sport General butler, accompanied 






264 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


by a few other Representatives, came along, and stopped on 
the parapet to witness the fun. As he seemed to enjoy the 
sight, one of the pages asked him if he would take a ride. 
After a brief deliberation the General remarked: “Well, I 
think I will.” 

In a moment a box was placed at his disposal near the edge 
of the parapet, or upper terrace. Into this, with considerable 
difficulty, the portly Representative compressed himself, and 
then he stated that he was “ ready.” At the word, the pages 
gave him a vigorous shove, and down he went with lightning 
swiftness, to the great delight of the assembled spectators. As 
with increased momentum he struck the second terrace, the 
box parted, and, with terrific speed, he finished the trip —all 
by himself. And he was still going when lost in the distance 
of the park. 

At one period during the Civil War, when the Confederate 
troops came within a short distance of Washington, the officers 
and employes of the Senate organized themselves into a band, 
or “ company,” and tendered to the President their services. 
President Lincoln thanked them for their patriotic offer, and 
told them that perhaps the best service they could render their 
country would be to stay where they were and guard the Cap¬ 
itol. They acted upon this advice ; but as they were without 
muskets or other weapons and as no enemy put in an appear¬ 
ance, these valiant defenders displayed their heroism in the only 
way open to them—they armed themselves with broomsticks 
and nightly patrolled the halls and corridors of the building. 
This “ awkward squad,” or, as it was styled, the “ Broomstick 
Brigade,” is not mentioned by the historians of the War. The 
officer in command was Isaac Bassett, who thus acquired the title 
of “ Captain ” which has adhered to him ever since ; Arthur P. 
Gorman, then an officer of the Senate (having started in, like 
Captain Bassett, as a page) and now a Senator from Maryland, 








DIVERSIONS. 


26 5 


was second in command, or “ Lieutenant and redoubtable 
James I. Christie rejoiced in the distinction of “ High Private.” 
Their doings would make interesting reading, and I regret that 
I cannot devote an entire chapter to them. I have adverted to 
the matter in order to rescue a fact of history from oblivion, 
and to add that knowledge of those “ doings ” was of consider¬ 
able value to the pages. When taken to task by Captain Bas¬ 
sett or Mr. Christie for some of our extravagant night-session 
pranks, we had but to cite a “ precedent,” and judgment would 
be entered in our favor. 

As with the officers of the Senate, so with the Senators 
themselves—they were all stanch friends of the pages. They 
remembered that they, at some time or other in the past, had 
been boys ; and their memory of those days, and a lingering, 
though subdued, propensity for frolic, constituted a strong 
bond of sympathy between them and their young companions. 

I might go on, in my rambling way, and talk to you for 
hours at their expense; but on this subject I have said enough. 
Let me place on record as an instance of their kindness one of 
the last performances in which I figured as a page, and then 
pass to a few final incidents of constitutional importance. 

I had almost completed my boyhood days, and decided to 
resign my place in the Senate. When my senatorial friends 
heard of this, they began to give me advice. Among other 
things it was suggested that I should study law and fit myself 
to succeed one of the Senators from New York. But I pre¬ 
ferred to go to the Naval Academy. Having so decided, the 
next step was to carry out my determination. 

I accordingly consulted several of the influential Senators 
who had manifested an interest in my welfare, and they 
promptly responded to my desire. It was the last year of 
President Grant’s administration, and there was a great press¬ 
ure upon him for all sorts of offices. But the Senators told 


266 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


me to go myself, nevertheless. So one balmy day I presented 
myself at the White House, and, under the escort of a Senator, 

I was shown into the audience-room. Although the President 
had been warned of my coming by some of the Senators, he 
went through the formality of asking me what I wanted. I 
told him that I wished to be appointed a cadet-midshipman-at- 
large to the Naval Academy. 

“ Well,” he quietly remarked, “ make out your application 
in black and white for just what you want, so that I can have 
it before me, and bring it here to-morrow morning at eleven 
o’clock.” 

I returned to the Senate, reported the result of the inter¬ 
view, and drew up my application. A Senator suggested that 
a recommendation should accompany it; and, drafting a testi¬ 
monial, he sent it to one of the clerks to be enrolled on parch¬ 
ment. Then the Senators began to sign it—Democrats and Re¬ 
publicans alike, all seemed to be eager to record their names. 
As I would go to one desk to secure the signature of a Senator, 
his neighbor would call out, “Pass it along!” And so it 
passed. I allowed a few members of the House and other dis¬ 
tinguished visitors to sign it, just to let them see their names 
in good company. When finished, it was a formidable docu¬ 
ment. 

The next day I entered the Cabinet Room in obedience to 
orders. To my astonishment, it was crowded with Senators 
and other dignitaries. As I entered, the Senators smiled, and 
said : “ Here he is at last ! ” which sadly unnerved me and 
made me feel faint. 

The President was sitting at the farther end of his Cabinet- 
table with his face toward the door, the chair on his right was 
occupied by a Senator, and the one next to that by a Cabinet 
officer. At the request of the President, I took a vacant chair 
close by and produced my papers. When I unfurled my 


DIVERSIONS. 


267 


recommendation the President laughed. “ What’s that,” he 
inquired, “ another enrolled bill to be approved ? ” I told 
him what it was. “ I didn’t ask you to get that ,” he said ; 
“ let me see your application .” I gave it to him and he 
scanned it closely. Then, looking at me intently, he began 
some mild quizzing and bantering. The others, taking the cue 
from him, did likewise, some asking me why I didn't choose a 
Foreign Mission. This caused me to feel still more uneasy, 
and the President observed it. “ Well,” he said, “your appli¬ 
cation is made out in proper form; ” and, folding it up, he 
wrote upon its back exactly twenty-four words, not including 
the date and the signature, “ U. S. Grant.” 

Of course I did not know what he had written, and I 
thought his writing on the paper was a bad omen. I had ex¬ 
pected him to read the application, and then say: “You shall 
be appointed ; ” and I was therefore confused by his action. I 
resolved to know my fate at once. 

“ Well, Mr. President,” I exclaimed, “ I should like to ask 
you-; ” and then I broke down under my excitement. 

“ What is it ? ” he asked. 

“ I should like to ask you,” I timidly resumed, “ do you— 

do you-,” and as I began to stammer the assemblage again 

smiled. 

“ Do I what ? ” inquired the President. 

“ Well,” I continued, nervously, “ do you think there’s any 
—any—any show for me ? ” And the way I brought out that 
word was appalling ! 

Then they all began to laugh ; but the President checked 
them. 

“ Yes,” said he, slowly and reflectively, yet I thought I saw 
his eyes twinkle as he said it, ‘ * you stand a ‘ show' There are 
©nly about ten thousand applicants ahead of you.” 

I was stupefied ! I looked the President full in the face to 


268 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


see if he was not in fun. But he was as calm as the midday 
sky. I grasped my hat, exclaimed “Good-morning ! ” and 
rose from the chair. The room seemed to swim around me. 
The Senator who sat in the adjoining chair must have noticed 
my pallor, for he caught me by the arm and whispered : “ It’s 
all right ! You’ll get it! ” 

Without looking at any of the others, I rushed straight for 
the door! 


CHAPTER XXXI. 


ODDS AND ENDS. 

With the beginning of the Forty-fourth Congress, hostilities 
arose between both bodies of Congress. The Democrats had 
control of the House of Representatives ; the Republicans had 
control of the Executive Mansion and Senate. Both factions 
were preparing to make their nominations and enter upon a 
fierce struggle to capture the Executive chair in the fall of 
1876, and both were on the look-out for obstructions to success. 

In the Upper House, the Republican majority seemed to take 
it for granted that their party’s candidate, whoever he might 
be, would be elected ; they had some fear, however, that the 
Democratic majority in the House might try to defeat that 
election by an exercise of their power under the Constitution. 

I have heretofore called your attention to the absence of 
proper provisions in regard to the counting of the electoral 
votes, and the possibility of danger by reason of this defect. At 
the present time, there is no provision whatever beyond the un¬ 
certain language of the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution ; 
at the count in 1873, there was nothing but that Amendment and 
the Twenty-second Joint Rule. Before I end this chapter, you 
will understand how that rule came to be abandoned. 

The main provision of the Twenty-second Joint Rule was to 
this effect—that the Senate and House should assemble in 
Joint Convention and count the electoral votes, but that no 
votes should be counted unless both bodies agreed to the 
counting of the same. 


270 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


To Senator Morton and other Republican statesmen, this 
provision seemed to be a magazine, imperilling the safety of the 
Republic. This was the way they looked at the matter : Sup¬ 
pose the Republican candidate for President should receive a 
majority of the electoral votes in 1876. At the Joint Convention 
in the following February, a Democratic House could, under the 
operation of the rule, prevent a single vote from being counted 
simply by raising objections, ridiculous or otherwise. Then 
what would follow ? The choice of President would, under the 
terms of the Twelfth Amendment, be thrown into the House 
of Representatives, and the Democratic party would thus be 
able to elect its candidate, notwithstanding the decision of the 
Electoral College in favor of the Republican nominee. 

That these fears were not unfounded was shown by the con¬ 
duct of the Democratic House at the session of 1876 ; that 
they came very near to realization was shown at the following 
session. Senator Morton forcibly presented his views upon 
this subject, and succeeded in getting through the Senate a 
bill to regulate the proceedings of the electoral count—and that 
was an end of it. Had the House passed the bill, or offered to 
the Senate a satisfactory substitute, the country would have 
been spared the humiliation that ensued.* 

In the House the majority were displaying their energies in 

*The Tilden-Hayes controversy, arising from the election of 1876, is too recent for 
discussion. So intense was the excitement and so great the danger, that Congress 
created a temporary tribunal, styled the “ Electoral Commission,” composed of five 
Senators, five Representatives, and five Justices of the Supreme Court, to decide upon 
objections raised in the Joint Convention, thus putting it beyond the power of the 
House to prevent the counting of the votes. Whether Congress acted within its con¬ 
stitutional authority, in creating that tribunal, is an open question ; whether that tribunal 
acted dispassionately, in its “ eight-to-seven ” decisions, is also matter of doubt. What¬ 
ever might have been expected of the Commissioners selected from the House and 
Senate; a suspicion that the Justices did not rise superior to partisan considerations 
shook public confidence in the stern probity and impartiality of the Supreme Court; 
and this, by people outside of party lines, is justly regarded as the most deplorable 
consequence of the affair. 


ODDS AND ENDS. 


271 


more ways than one. They were going for the Republican 
party with a vengeance—it was the first chance they had had for 
many a year. They were investigating Republican adminis¬ 
tration, imprisoning a private citizen for contempt, impeaching 
a Cabinet officer for something else—and above all these things, 
there loomed up before them the awful spectre of a Third Term. 
I am almost tempted to compare that House to the “ mad Par¬ 
liament of Oxford,” of which we read in English history. The 
Representatives flooded the House with joint resolutions pro¬ 
posing amendments to the Constitution. Some suggested that 
the office of President should be limited to six years and to 
one term only, and that the Presidents and Vice-Presidents 
should be made Senators for life. Others wished to limit the 
terms of all civil officers to four years. Nothing was ever done, 
however, with the numerous joint resolutions so offered ; but 
the House did adopt a resolution declaratory of its sentiments 
on the subject of a third term. Here it is : 

Resolved , That, in the opinion of this House, the precedent established 
by Washington and other Presidents of the United States, in retiring from 
the Presidential office after their second term, has become, by universal 
concurrence, a part of our republican system of government, and that 
any departure from this time-honored custom would be unwise, unpatri¬ 
otic, and fraught with peril to our free institutions. 

This was adopted by a vote of 233 yeas to 18 nays (38 not 
voting) ; so it seems that the Representatives, Republicans as 
well as Democrats, were almost unanimously of opinion that 
President Grant ought not to stand upon the order of his going, 
but should “ go at once.” 

The House also considered various resolutions in regard to 
the nationality and indissolubility of the Union and in regard to 
the Rights of States. One of these was finally adopted by a 
vote of 150 to 42 (97 not voting), and, as I find the names of 


2 72 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


both Democrats and Republicans in the list of those who be¬ 
lieved in the sentiments expressed, it may be put down as an 
amicable interpretation of the Constitution : 

Resolved , That the people of the United States constitute a nation in 
the sense, to the extent, and for the purpose defined in the Federal Con¬ 
stitution. 

Resolved , That the Government of the United States is a Federal 
Union, and was formed by the people of the several States in their 
sovereign capacity; that the rights and powers of the United States 
Government are defined and limited by the Federal Constitution, and 
these rights and powers cannot be enlarged or diminished except by an 
amendment to the Constitution. 

Resolved , That the rights of the States have the same sanction and se¬ 
curity in the Constitution as the rights and powers of the Federal Govern¬ 
ment, and that local domestic government by the several States within 
the limits of the Constitution is absolutely necessary for the preservation of 
the liberties of the citizen and the continuance of our republican system 
of Government. 

Resolved , That the doctrine that a State has a right to secede from the 
Union is in conflict with the idea of a “perpetual union ” as contem¬ 
plated by the Constitution, and should be regarded as being forever ex¬ 
tinguished by the results of the recent civil conflict. 

That is what I should call a “ Congressional platitude." You 
may take it for what it is worth. So far as its legal effect is 
concerned it has none. The House could not, by an “opin¬ 
ion," add to or subtract from any feature of the Constitution, 
and its interpretation of the meaning of that instrument is bind¬ 
ing upon no one. The Federal Judiciary is the only power 
known to our Government which can give an authoritative 
opinion on such a subject. My own notion is that the resolu¬ 
tion states the truth, but I do not quite understand why that 
particular House felt called upon to tell the American people 
what it thought of the majesty and power of their Republic. It 
had a right to do so, of course. 


ODDS AND ENDS. 


273 


Then the Representatives also adopted a resolution which 
said that, in their opinion, no “ subsidies ” should be granted by 
the Government to public or private enterprises ; and that, on 
account of the condition of finances at that time, all appropri¬ 
ations should be limited to the imperative demands of the public 
service. You will thus observe that, if the Forty-fourth House 
did not do much in the way of legislation, it at least knew what 
it ought not to do. These various resolutions all “tested the 
sense of the House.” 

But the quaintest thing the Representatives did was to pass 
a resolution requesting President Grant to inform them how 
many days, during his two terms of office, he had been away 
from the seat of Government, and what official acts he had 
done when so absent. It is a well-known fact that during the 
sultry days of summer, many people who can afford the luxury 
go to the mountains or to the seaside in search of comfort; and, 
when Congress is not in session, Representatives and Senators 
generally go along with the throng, to say nothing of the 
judges and other officers of Government. And so, General 
Grant, believing that he was not debarred from enjoyment of 
ocean breezes simply because he was a President, decided that 
he would not remain cooped up in Washington. It was his 
wont to go to Long Branch every summer, and these absences 
were what the Democratic House called in question. 

When President Grant received that resolution, I think he 
must have enjoyed its wit. He answered it, however. He told 
the Representatives that it was none of their business ! That, 
in substance, was what he said ; but he really did give them 
some information—some law as well as facts. He told them 
that he was willing to advise them of anything necessary for 
them to know in the performance of their duties as Congressmen. 
Their duties, however, could only be either legislation ox impeach¬ 
ment. But, reasoned the President, the authority of the Chief 



274 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


Magistrate is co-extensive with the United States, and he surely 
has the right to perform his duties wherever he may be within 
the national domain, and, having that right, under the Constitu¬ 
tion Congress cannot limit its exercise by legislation . There¬ 
fore, the information was not necessary in that respect. And 
if it was the object of the House to get the information in or¬ 
der to impeach him, then the request was improper, because no 
one, under the law, can be required to testify against himself. 
“ Therefore,” said the President, in effect, “ I’ll not tell you , 
and if you make any law imposing restrictions upon my move¬ 
ments or the exercise of my executive prerogatives, I will not 
obey them—I will recognize the higher authority of the Con¬ 
stitution.” That is what he told them, up and down ! 

Yet, in order to give them some reward for their anxiety, he 
volunteered the information that during all his administration, 
wherever he may have been, the interests of the Government had 
never been neglected and that he had at all times faithfully per¬ 
formed the duties of his office in accordance with his oath. He 
informed them that it had been the custom of every one of his 
predecessors from Washington to Lincoln (except Harrison, 
who lived but one month after his inauguration) to absent him¬ 
self from the seat of Government; and then he gave them a 
memorandum showing the number of days his predecessors 
had been away, and reciting some of the important official acts 
performed by them during such absences. And the funniest thing 
about it all was, the memorandum disclosed the fact that Thomas 
Jefferson, whose memory the Democratic Representatives abso¬ 
lutely adored, had, during his two terms, been absent from the 
seat of Government more than any other President on the list! 

This incident combines instruction and amusement. The 
Representatives, amid a great beating of tin-pans, had as¬ 
saulted the President with a resolution ; he retaliated and com¬ 
pletely disconcerted them by a simple memorandum. 


ODDS AND ENDS. 


27 5 


But the Democratic House was not the only body he hit 
that year. The Senate passed a bill reducing the salary of the 
President to $25,000—to take effect, of course, at the beginning 
of the next Administration.* The House concurred in the action 
of the Senate, and the bill went to the President for his approval. 
But he promptly returned it to the Senate, with the remark that, 
“ from a sense of duty to his successors in office, to himself, 
and to what is due to. the dignity of the position of the Chief 
Magistrate of a nation of more than 40,000,000 people,” he 
could not give it his signature and sanction. Thus, while the 
President struck the Democratic House with a memorandum, 
he hurled at his own friends, a Republican Senate, his mightiest 
weapon of defense—a veto ! 

I shall never forget the House of 1876. It was an investigat¬ 
ing and imprisoning House ; and as it was on the search for 
extravagance in public office, it thought it ought to make a 
show of economy itself. So it made the “show.” This item 
of “ consistency ” is about the only thing I can record in its 
favor. I have a little anecdote at hand. 

When the summer days came on, the Senators, as usual, 
had their fans and their huge tubs of lemonade and their large 
coolers of iced-tea, to mitigate the force of the weather. Some 
of the members of the House endeavored to have similar refresh¬ 
ments ordered out of its “ contingent fund,” but the Chair- 


* The Constitution (Article II., Sec. I., cl. 6) provides th^t “The President shall, 
at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be en- 
creased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected.” 
The “ salary-grab ” act, which increased the compensation of the President from $25,- 
000 to $50,000, was passed on the 3d of March, 1873, one day before the second term 
of President Grant began. The proposed reduction to $25,000, could not, therefore, 
take effect before the 4th of March, 1877. The Constitution (Article III., Sec. I.) also 
provides that the compensation of the Federal Judges shall not be diminished during 
their continuance in office. Hence the repeal of the salary-grab law could not have 
affected the salaries of the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, 
even had Congress not expressly noted this exception in the act of repeal. 


2 y6 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


man of their Committee on Accounts would not consent. 
The result was, that the thirsty and broiling Representatives 
came over to the Senate ; and, as they were deserving objects 
of compassion, the Senators generously allowed them to help 
themselves. I really think that on a hot afternoon a quorum 
of the House would saunter into the Chamber within an hour. 
At any rate, nearly all came at one time or another, and came 
very frequently too—all, of course, except those who were 
opposed to such “ extravagance.” 

One afternoon, a Senate-page passed through our western 
cloak-room, and, seeing something, quickly ran out into the 
Chamber and began whispering to Senators. A few minutes, 
and quite a crowd of us—Senators, officers, and pages—were 
gathered about the cloak-room door enjoying the spectacle 
within. And our curiosity was permissible, for there, standing 
over one of the tubs, with his back to the door and utterly un¬ 
conscious of our gaze—there, drinking with famished haste our 
precious and extravagant lemonade, was—the Honorable and 
Economical Chairman of House Accounts ! 

The neatest thing done that year was done by the Repub¬ 
lican Senate—its victim was the Democratic House. 

In the year 1875 one of the joint rules of the Senate and 
House (No. 16) provided that no bill passed by one body 
should be sent for concurrence to the other on either of the 
last three days of the session ; and another (No. 17) provided 
that no bill or resolution should be sent to the President, for 
his approbation, on the last day of the session. These two 
rules (designed to prevent the Houses of Congress and the 
President from being embarrassed by a crush of work in the 
closing hours of a session) were excellent—it would have been 
wise, therefore, to enforce them ; as a matter of fact they were 
suspended by concurrent resolution regularly perhaps every 
year. The evil still exists. 


ODDS AND ENDS. 


27; 


The most important Joint Rule was the one in regard to 
counting the electoral votes, and known as the Twenty-second. 
Now, when the Senate met in December, 1875, it did so with 
the intention of passing a law in regard to the electoral count; 
hence, as before noted, it did not care for the Twenty- 
second Joint Rule. It did, however, think the other rules of 
value, in the transaction of business between the two bodies, 
and as it was the beginning of a new and anti-Republican 
House, and there being a doubt whether the Joint Rules in 
force during the Forty-third Congress were binding upon the 
Forty-fourth unless expressly adopted, the Senate, on the 22nd 
of January, 1876, sent to the House the following resolution : 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring ), 
That the joint rules of the Senate and House of Representatives, in force 
at the close of the last session of Congress, excepting the twenty-second 
joint rule, be, and the same are hereby, adopted as the joint rules of the 
two houses for the present session. 

The House took no action whatever in the matter, for it was 
just as eager to retain the Twenty-second Joint Rule as was the 
Senate to discard it. On the 14th of August, however, the 
House sent over to the Senate its usual resolution, providing 
for the suspension of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Joint 
Rules. The Senate saw its opportunity. It knew that the 
House did not intend to pass Senator Morton’s bill or propose 
any other arrangement about the counting of the electoral 
votes. The Republican Senators did not intend that the House 
should have the advantage which the old rule gave to them. 
Accordingly, within a few minutes after the House resolution 
was received, Senator Edmunds arose and, in his quiet way, 
said to Senator Sargent, who had the floor : “ May I ask the 
Senator from California to allow to be taken up, as a matter of 
courtesy to the House , a resolution the House has sent here 


2 78 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


suspending , as they supposed , the sixteenth and seventeenth 
joint rules ? ” 

Senator Sargent said he would give way if the matter would 
not lead to discussion. Senator Edmunds assured him that 
there would be no debate. There was none. Senator Ed¬ 
munds offered, and the Senate without hesitation passed, the 
following resolution : 

Resolved , That the resolution of the House of Representatives presented 
this day in the following words : “ Resolved by the House of Representatives 
(the Senate concurring ), That the sixteenth and seventeenth joint rules be 
suspended for the remainder of the session,” be respectfully returned to the 
House of Representatives, with the statement , that, as the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives has not notified the Senate of the adoption of the joint rules 
for this present session, as proposed by the resolution of the Senate of the 
twentieth day of January last, and transmitted to the House on the twenty- 
second day of the same month, there are no jomt rules in force . 

Which courteously and effectually disposed of the whole 
question ! 

Thus it was that the Twenty-second Joint Rule fell to the 
ground. I did not wait to see the Electoral Commission take its 
place. This little affair with the House was one of the last sub¬ 
jects that came under my observation as a page. For on the 
very next day, to wit, on Tuesday, the 15th of August, 1876, 
at half-past seven o’clock in the evening thereof, the Senate and 
.House of Representatives adjourned sine die; and with the 
close of that first regular session of the Forty-fourth Congress 
my career in the legislative councils of my country came to 
an end. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


ANTAGONISMS. 

The Senate has always been rather aristocratic and pompous 
in its bearing and a stickler about forms of etiquette. The 
House, on the other hand, has always been eminently demo¬ 
cratic and belligerent. These characteristics were shown at the 
very beginning of the Government in the contest over so sim¬ 
ple a matter as the style of address to the President; they are 
as noticeable now as they were then. The Senate stalks with 
stately strides, in polished, high-heeled boots, a boutonniere in 
its swallow-tailed coat, its ambrosial locks carefully smoothed, 
and with a peculiar hauteur of tone and deportment. The House 
is anything but frigid. It cares nothing for the conventional¬ 
ities of drawing-room society. It shambles about with mud on its 
rustic shoes, its hair unkempt, its voice now jovial, now quarrel¬ 
some, but uniformly loud and boisterous ; and thus, in its general 
appearance and demeanor, it reflects the matter-of-fact and pug¬ 
nacious, yet withal sterling and good-natured, qualities of the 
masses. (Of course, this is to be taken in a Pickwickian sense.) 

This was just what the framers of the Constitution foresaw ; 
and in committing the law-making power of the Government 
to separate bodies, possessing opposite characteristics—the one 
peculiarly hot-tempered and impulsive, the other peculiarly de¬ 
liberate and grave—they were guided by the lessons of history 
and wisdom. Large bodies of men are very apt to act upon 
the passion of the moment; small bodies are apt to be more 
reflective and sedate. The tendency of the House of Repre- 


280 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


sentatives toward hasty and emotional legislation is counter¬ 
acted by the conservative influence of the Senate. The entire 
House comes directly from the people every two years ; the 
members may be young and inexperienced ; they may be 
chosen under intense popular excitement ; they may enter 
upon their duties with a political frenzy due to that excite¬ 
ment ; and under that frenzy and in an unguarded moment they 
might, by a rash and thoughtless act, inflict upon the nation 
disaster and disgrace which no amount of remorse or penance 
afterward could undo. As a check upon such a body, the Con¬ 
stitution provided for the Senate, to be composed of older and 
wiser men ; their elections removed from the influences to which 
the elections of Representatives are liable ; their terms of ser¬ 
vice longer, and so arranged that no tidal wave of popular preju¬ 
dice and fury could, at a given time, subvert the controlling 
qualities of the assembly by sweeping into it a majority of raw 
recruits or political fanatics entirely in unison with the Lower 
House.* 

* These considerations are admirably stated by Chancellor Kent: " The division of 
the legislature into two separate and independent branches is founded on such obvious 
principles of good policy, and is so strongly recommended by the unequivocal language 
of experience, that it has obtained the general approbation of the people of this country. 
One great object of this separation of the legislature into two houses, acting separately 
and with co-ordinate powers, is to destroy the evil effects of sudden and strong excite¬ 
ment, and of precipitate measures, springing from passion, caprice, prejudice, personal 
influence, and party intrigue, which have been found, by sad experience, to exercise a 
potent and dangerous sway in single assemblies. A hasty decision is not so likely to 
proceed to the solemnities of a law, when it is to be arrested in its course, and made to 
undergo the deliberation and probably the jealous and critical revision of another and a 
rival body of men, sitting in a different place, and under better advantages to avoid the 
prepossessions and correct the errors of the other branch. . . . The small number 

and long duration of the Senate were intended to render them a safeguard against the 
influence of those paroxysms of heat and passion, which prevail occasionally in the 
most enlightened communities, and enter into the deliberations of popular assemblies. 
. . . The characteristical qualities of the Senate, in the intendment of the Constitu¬ 

tion, are wisdom and stability. The legal presumption is, that the Senate will entertain 
more enlightened views of public policy, will feel a higher and juster sense of national 
character, and a greater regard for stability in the administration of the government.” 


ANTAGONISMS. 


28l 


It is essential to a proper appreciation of the excellence of 
Congress as an institution, that this constitutional separation of 
the law-making department into independent bodies, with the 
privileges of each carefully defined, should be thoroughly un¬ 
derstood. That you should the better realize the difference be¬ 
tween the nature of the two bodies, I have dwelt, with some 
freedom and emphasis, upon disorderly proceedings of frequent 
occurrence in the Lower House and almost unknown to the Up¬ 
per. That those occurrences, at times, descend far below the 
level of propriety I have not deemed it necessary to conceal. 

The House of Representatives is the only institution of our 
Government which is in entire keeping with the spirit of a true 
Republic. Unlike the Senate, unlike the Executive, unlike the 
Federal Judiciary, the House comes directly from the people 
of the whole country, upon terms of perfect equality, without 
the intervention of legislatures, electoral colleges, or other ap- 
pointing-agencies. And yet, apart from the power of the States 
in the Senate and in the choice of President and, consequently 
(through the medium of the President and Senate), in the selec¬ 
tion of the Judiciary, ours is a representative and popular Gov¬ 
ernment—a Government which recognizes the rights of all classes 
of citizens, the poor as well as the rich, the unlearned as well as 
the learned, the rough and uncouth as well as the polished and 
refined ; and if ignorance is displayed in our legislative halls, 
whether in the House or in the Senate, it is because an igno¬ 
rant or thoughtless constituency has exercised its right of rep¬ 
resentation. If, therefore, you at any time hear of a Represent¬ 
ative or Senator who apparently forgets, for a moment, the 
dignity that is expected of him as an American law-maker, you 
r nould blame the particular constituency that elected him, and 
'jot condemn the intelligence of the general public or the great 
principles of our Government which render such a legislator 
lossible. 


282 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS . 


In so large a collection of men as the House of Representa¬ 
tives, it is almost inevitable that there will be some members 
who are of an indiscreet or rash temperament. Scenes of dis¬ 
order and confusion like those I have described are found in all 
popular assemblies throughout the civilized world ; and in this 
respect the House of Representatives compares favorably with 
the Chamber of Deputies of France, and the House of Com¬ 
mons of Great Britain. And I may also add, that the House 
of Representatives of to-day is, in proportion to its size, more 
decorous than its predecessors. Its largely increased member¬ 
ship has destroyed, perhaps, some of its efficiency, and it may 
become necessary to place another constitutional limit upon 
the ratio of representation or upon its numbers ; but in its 
worst moments I have never known it to approach a scene in 
the House of 1798, when two, out of the one hundred and five 
members, fought in open session with tongs and hickory club, 
or to another scene late in the present century when half a dozen 
Representatives rolled over and over in the area of freedom, in 
a rough-and-tumble fight, while spittoons and other missiles 
were thrown by their admiring friends ! 

It is also but fair to the Representatives to state that there 
have been some episodes in the Upper House that were by no 
means pardonable. The indignities to which Charles Sumner 
was subjected are matters of history ; the student of Congres¬ 
sional affairs will readily think of other instances. But stormy 
scenes in the Senate are nowadays matters chiefly of tradition. 

While I have heard many eloquent and stirring debates in 
the Senate, downright violations of propriety were few in num¬ 
ber. The Senators were very courteous in their remarks to ore 
another. They sought to avoid anything in their own deport¬ 
ment likely to create disorder, and they also would not tolerati 1 " 
any acts of outsiders calculated to compromise the decorum an^i 
dignity of the body. I have seen the galleries cleared and gf’ 











































































. 























ANTAGONISMS. 


283 


the people ejected, simply because some of the audience had 
applauded too boisterously the remarks of a Senator. The 
pages regarded themselves as privileged characters, yet there 
was a bound to the indulgence of the Senate which even their 
genius could not with safety transcend. 

There was one great influence that prevented the Senators 
from engaging in frenzied tumults—their reverential regard for 
'■.he traditions of the body—traditions which have been handed- 
down to them with their historic Bible, their ivory gavel, and 
the venerable old clock which stands, a veteran of the past, at 
the portals of the Senate. There are many unwritten rules of 
senatorial etiquette, the observance of which tends to preserve 
the peculiar exclusiveness of that body; and those rules were 
guarded by the Senators with great care. Of late years there 
have been occasional invasions of this exclusiveness, yet not to 
any appreciable extent. The barriers of secret sessions still re¬ 
main, and “ senatorial courtesy ” has still its many worshippers. 

The privileges conferred by the Constitution upon both 
Houses of Congress were designed to secure their independence 
as separate bodies, in the management of the business com¬ 
mitted to them respectively, and to ensure their joint efficiency 
as one of the three great departments of the Government. 

The House of Representatives is given the exclusive right 
to choose its Speaker and other officers ; the Senate is given 
the exclusive right to choose its officers and a President pro 
tempore , to act in the absence of the Vice-President, who is, ex 
officio ,* its presiding officer. To decide upon the elections, re¬ 
turns, and qualifications of its members ; to make rules for its 
own governance ; to compel the attendance of absent members ; 
and to preserve decorum even to the extremity of expulsion 
of a member,—these are all privileges and powers belonging to 
each House to be exercised without interference on the part of 

* “ By virtue of his office.” 


284 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


the other. So also is the duty to keep a journal of its proceed¬ 
ings, which carries with it the right to regulate and correct it at 
any time if deemed erroneous. The Senate performs this duty 
thoroughly ; it keeps four journals—one for its legislative pro¬ 
ceedings, another for its executive proceedings, a third for con¬ 
fidential legislative proceedings, and a fourth for its proceed¬ 
ings when sitting as a Court of Impeachment. 

Another important privilege, enjoyed by Senators and Rep¬ 
resentatives alike, is one indispensable to the usefulness of Con 
gress as a whole,—the provision that “ in all cases, except trea¬ 
son, felony, and breach of the peace,” they shall “be privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at the session of their re¬ 
spective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; ” 
and that, “ for any speech or debate in either House, they shall 
not be questioned in any other place.” This exemption from 
arrest is designed to protect them from legal proceedings, 
which might be intentionally instituted by malicious persons 
for the purpose of preventing them from performing their duties, 
as law-makers. A civil suit which does not restrain the per¬ 
sonal liberty of a Congressman—as an ordinary action to re¬ 
cover money due by him—is not in conflict with this constitu¬ 
tional provision. 

To further secure the impartial and faithful performance of 
their duties, there is, in this connection, a disqualifying pro¬ 
vision of great consequence : “ No person holding any office 
under the United States, shall be a member of either House 
during his continuance in office,” and “ No Senator or Repre¬ 
sentative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be 
appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United 
States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments 
whereof shall have been encreased during such time.” The 
members of the Constitutional Convention must have had in 
view some future “ salary-grabbers ” who might be inclined, at 








The Old Clock in the Corridor, near the Entrance to the Senate, 













































































ANTAGONISMS . 


285 


the close of their terms, to establish a number of sinecure posi¬ 
tions and afterward have themselves appointed to fill them. 

The power of impeachment is vested exclusively in the 
House—the power to try impeachments is given exclusively to 
[the Senate, a body eminently fitted, by reason of its judicial 
.st of mind, to be entrusted with that grave and solemn powef. 



[Another provision is, that “ All bills for raising revenue shall 
)riginate in the House of Representatives ; but the Senate may 
propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.” The 
Representatives being more closely identified with the people, 
ne reason for this distinction is obvious ; it is the recognition 
if the old Revolutionary war-cry : “ Taxation and representa- 
ion are inseparable.” 

Apart from the constitutional privileges of each House, 
:here have grown up a number of courtesies which, by length 
pf time, have come to be regarded with about the same sanctity 
f nd reverence as constitutional rights ; and any act of hostility 
t|s quickly resented by the House at which the blow is aimed, 
f f the Senate desires the return of a bill or of any other paper 
[ 'Rich has gone out of its possession and to the House, it makes 
<i polite “ request ” that such bill or paper be returned. So also 
is it a courtesy that the manner in which one body disburses its 
own ‘‘contingent fund” shall not be criticized by the other, 
although the members of the body interested may do so as 
much as they desire. In the Vice-President’s room is an arti¬ 
cle which silently testifies to this fact—a little mirror whose pur¬ 
chase, long ago, was denounced by the Senators as an act of the 
most wanton extravagance ! 

The same sentiment protects the officers and employes of 
each body from molestation by the other. Were the House to 
attempt in a General Appropriation Bill to reduce the compen¬ 
sation of Senate-clerks without making a corresponding pro¬ 
vision in regard to its own force, the Senate would be very 







286 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


likely to bury the appropriation bill out of sight, rather than 
acquiesce in such a measure. 

The Senate respects these courtesies more than the House. 
But the polite manner in which it makes a request is no more 
peculiar than the polite frigidity with which it acts when its 
polite requests are treated with indifference. 

The House of Representatives has, within the past few years, 
raised a loud cry over various alleged attempts on the part of 
the Senators to molest it in the exercise of its constitutiona* 



The Old Mirror in the Vice-President’s Room. 


prerogatives. It has claimed that the Senate, by ratifying com¬ 
mercial treaties with foreign powers, by the terms of which 
articles of import from foreign lands are permitted to enter this 
country free of duty, has interfered with the general tariff laws 
made by Congress and thereby infringed upon the right of the 
House in regard to revenue measures. And the House goes 
further than that. It contends that not only has the Senate no 
power to make treaties which practically amount to revenue leg¬ 
islation, but that it has no right to originate appropriation bills. 
In other words, the House declares that the phrase “ all bills 
for raising revenue ” is equivalent to the expression used in the 

























ANTAGONISMS. 


2 87 


British Parliament, “ money-bills,” and that it includes appro¬ 
priation bills for the disbursement of revenue when raised, as 
well as tax bills for the raising of revenue. It is scarcely proper 
for me to argue either of these questions. I advert to them be¬ 
cause the wrangle may hereafter assume large proportions, and 
any controversy which involves a constitutional principle is en¬ 
titled to, and should receive, most careful consideration. 

In some of its conflicts with the Senate the House has as¬ 
sumed a rather dictatorial attitude. In this it has made a mis¬ 
take. The Senate is courteous ; it is not unreasonable ; it is 
generally willing to make concessions to the Lower House 
when good reasons are shown and its own rights are not in 
jeopardy : but it cannot be coerced.* 

In the first session of the last Congress f the Senators in¬ 
serted a provision in an appropriation bill to pay for clerks, 
or private secretaries, to Senators. The bill went back to the 
House, and the Representatives resisted the amendment. They 
declared it was practically increasing the salaries of Senators by 
making the Public Treasury pay for clerical assistance which 
Representatives were compelled to pay for out of their own 
pockets. They were more than vexed—they were enraged. 
But the composure of the Senators was not disturbed. They 
said that they were worth to their country the compensation 
they received, and that they ought not to be obliged to defray 
out of their salaries expenses of correspondence with their con¬ 
stituents ; and that if the Representatives were afraid, or did not 
care, to vote private secretaries for themselves it was no reason 
why they (the Senators) should remain without them. The 
Senate was inflexible. Conferences were held ; day after day 


* “ This,” said Daniel Webster, “ is a Senate, a Senate of equals, of men of indi¬ 
vidual honor and personal character, and of absolute independence. We know no 
masters, we acknowledge no dictators. This is a hall for mutual consultation and dis¬ 
cussion, not an arena for the exhibition of champions.” 11884. 


288 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


was spent in endeavoring to make the Senators submit ; the 
Representatives said that they would adhere to their position ; 
the Senators softly replied that they fully intended to do the 
same, and, if necessary, would sit through the hot months of 
summer and make the House succumb or wilt ! It was very 
amusing. Both bodies had transacted nearly all their business 
for the session ; this one point of controversy—private secre¬ 
taries—was practically the only thing that kept them at the 
Capitol. The majority of the House were anxious to adjourn ; 
some of them wanted to go to a political convention at Chicago, 
others wanted to go home. But the Senators filled their cloak¬ 
rooms with iced-tea and lemonade, and brought out their palm- 
leaf fans, and provokingly said that they were happy where 
they were ! The House yielded ; and, notwithstanding annual 
contests over this same question, the Senators have had their 
private secretaries ever since. 

At the following session,* the House held back some of 
its large appropriation bills until within a few days of the ex¬ 
piration of the Congress, and then, at the last moment, heaped 
them upon the Senate in one huge pile. This was not cour¬ 
teous ; neither was it right. In the short time left, the Sena¬ 
tors were unable to give that careful consideration to the bills 
which the public interests required, and they were justly in¬ 
dignant. 

But I think they avenged the slight. The day on which that 
Congress adjourned was that of the last inauguration. The 
Representatives were naturally eager to witness the proceed¬ 
ings in the Senate, for it was the first inauguration of a Demo¬ 
cratic President since the days of Buchanan ; but the Senate 
gave itself no trouble about accommodating them with seats. 
Then the Representatives felt aggrieved, and it was actually 
suggested that, as a matter of self-respect, the House should 

* 1885. 


ANTAGONISMS . 289 

not attend the inaugural ceremonies at all ! It would have been 
a novel mode of retaliation. 

During my term of service the want of harmony between 
the Senate and House was in many ways impressed upon me. 
The feeling of superiority which was manifested by the Upper 
House and the spirit of envy that possessed the Lower were 
communicated to the officers and employes, causing an atmos¬ 
phere of rivalry to pervade the entire Capitol. The pages 
of the House were not permitted to enter the Senate-chamber, 
while the pages of the Senate were wont to roam at will through¬ 
out the building. Our rivals, having stood this discrimination 
for some time, finally obtained the adoption of some sort of 
order excluding us from the Hall unless they were permitted to 
have access to the Chamber. But this order, for one reason or 
another, failed to have the desired effect. We continued to in¬ 
vade the Hall just as boldly as if the order had not been made, 
and the Senators seemed to regard our triumph as if it were a 
vindication of the majesty of the Senate itself. The lightest 
‘rifles show the direction of the wind. 

It is easy to understand that the opposite characteristics of 
the two Houses should have had a tendency, from the very first, 
to cause collision. That conflicts of opinion will occur is to be 
expected ; acts of usurpation are inexcusable. And while it 
is the duty of each body to guard from encroachment and as¬ 
sault its own prerogatives and independence, a petty jealousy 
or peevishness that seeks opportunity to humiliate the compan¬ 
ion in authority is unworthy either House. 

19 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 


CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS. 

Our observations in regard to the two branches of Congress 
may be extended to other parts of our political system. 

As the House of Representatives has its peculiar functions 
and duties, in the performance of which it should not be 
molested by the Senate ; as the Senate has its separate pro¬ 
vince of action into which the House of Representatives can¬ 
not intrude, so with the three branches of the General Govern¬ 
ment. 

To the Congress, to the Executive, and to the Judiciary, 
certain trusts have been confided ; these trusts, and the powers 
of each department necessary to their execution, are defined in 
the Constitution ; and no department can offer any excuse for 
transcending its constitutional authority and intermeddling with 
the jurisdiction and prerogatives of the associate branches of the 
Government. 

“ The object of the Constitution,” says the Supreme Court, # 
“ was to establish three great departments of government; the 
legislative, the executive, and the judicial departments. The 
first was to pass laws, the second to approve and execute them, 
and the third to expound and enforce them.” In this sense, 
the three departments are equals ; hence they are styled “ the 
co-ordinate departments of government. ” And as a department, 

* Case of Martin, Heir at law and devisee of Fairfax , v. Hunter's 
Lessee , reported in i Wheaton Reports, p. 304. 



CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS. 


291 


like a person, cannot be the equal of another if in the power of 
that other, each of the three departments must be supreme in 


In the Senate Library. 

its own sphere of action ; hence they are referred to as “ inde¬ 
pendent.” That this independence was contemplated by the 











292 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


Constitution is evident from certain provisions. The law-mak¬ 
ing power being the supreme power of Government, is, in its 
very nature, the most formidable ; and to remove the Execu¬ 
tive and the Judiciary from improper influence on the part of 
Congress, the Constitution commands that they shall, at stated 
times, receive for their services a compensation which, in the 
case of the President, “shall neither be increased nor dimin¬ 
ished during the period for which he shall have been elected,” 
and, in the case of the Judges, “ shall not be diminished during 
their continuance in office.” And to defend themselves in case 
of attack, the Constitution has given to the Executive the great 
weapon of a “ qualified negative,” * and to the Judiciary a yet 
mightier weapon—the absolute and unconditional authority to 
set aside as void any acts of Congress not warranted by the 
Constitution. These powers have been frequently exercised ; 
you will recall a few instances. You will remember how Presi¬ 
dent Grant resisted an assault upon his prerogatives by refus¬ 
ing to comply with an impertinent demand made by the House 
of Representatives ; and how he protected the dignity of his 
office by vetoing the Senate’s measure to reduce the Presiden¬ 
tial compensation/!' You will remember how the Supreme 
Court set aside as unconstitutional a measure passed by the 

* That is, a “ veto power” not absolute, but which may be overcome 
by a two-thirds vote of each House of Congress. 

f And if familiar with the events of the current year (1886), you will i 
remember how, at the last session, President Cleveland declined to submit ; 
to what he considered an improper “ request for papers,” made by the 
Senate ; and how he threw his vetoes, in rapid succession, at both Houses, 
because of legislative measures objectionable to him—more vetoes, in one 
year, than were thrown by all of his predecessors during ninety-six years ! 
The Senate, by a formal resolution adopted by a close vote and after a long 
debate, maintained the “propriety” of its request; the vetoes were de¬ 
nounced by members of each House ; the President was not seemingly 
disturbed by the resolution or the denunciation. 






CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS. 


293 


House of Representatives, under a somewhat despotic infringe¬ 
ment of the rights of the minority, and afterward concurred in 
by the Senate and the President; and how that same tribunal 
declared illegal the act of the House of Representatives in im¬ 
prisoning a private citizen, and rebuked it for arrogating to it¬ 
self powers which the Constitution committed exclusively to 
the courts.* 

The same theory of “ checks and balances ” may be dis¬ 
cerned in the relations between the Federal Government and 
the States. The authority of the Federal Government extends 
over the entire national domain, and is supreme in affairs of 
national concern ; its powers are defined by the Federal Con¬ 
stitution, and with the exercise of those powers no State can 
interfere. The Federal Government, however, can exercise no 
power not conferred upon it by the Federal Constitution ; it 
is expressly prohibited from exercising certain powers, and the 
Ninth and Tenth Amendments declare : “ The enumeration in 
the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to 
deny or disparage others retained by the people,” and, “The 
powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the St? f 
respectively, or to the people.” t 

* While the Supreme Court absolved from personal responsibility the 
Representatives sued by Mr. Kilbourn, it uttered this vigorous warning for 
the benefit of the House and Senate : “ If we could suppose the members 
of those bodies so far to forget their high functions and the noble instru¬ 
ment under which they act as to imitate the Long Parliament in the exe¬ 
cution of the Chief Magistrate of the nation, or to follow the example of 
the French Assembly in assuming the function of a court for capital punish¬ 
ment, we are not prepared to say that such an utter perversion of their 
powers to a criminal purpose would be screened from punishment by the 
constitutional provision for freedom of debate.” 

t The powers of Congress are specified in various sections of the Con¬ 
stitution, as are certain express duties and prohibitions. But see, in par- 



294 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


If we follow these “reserved powers” into the States, we 
shall find that like limitations have been there established. The 
States are so many republics within a Republic. Each State 
has a written constitution and a government.of its own—a con¬ 
stitution made by the people of the State, a government in 
which all the people of the State are represented. Its govern¬ 
ment, like that of the Union, is divided into three distinct de¬ 
partments ; and the law-makers, the law-executors, and the 
law-interpreters, constituting those departments and chosen by 
the people, must perform their duties in accordance with the 
provisions and requirements of the constitution of the State 
and subject to its prohibitions and limitations—and subject also 
to the prohibitions and limitations of the Constitution of the 
United States.* * 

It is in this distinct separation, this careful distribution and 
adjustment of the powers of government delegated by the peo¬ 
ple to their agents, Federal and State, with explicit provisions 
for the preservation of civil liberty and equal rights, that we 
behold the beautiful harmony in our vast political system, and 
the iron-clad and impregnable security of the people from acts 
tyranny and oppression. The constitution of every State 
ps in check the departments of State government; the 
ederal Constitution restrains the departments of the Federal 

ticular, Art. I., Secs. VIII. and IX. For express prohibitions in regard 
to the States, see, in particular, Art. I., Sec. X. ; and for other provisions, 
involving great principles of civil liberty, religious freedom, etc., and ap¬ 
plicable to the Federal Government and the States, see the Amendments. 

* A provision of the Federal Constitution (Art. VI., cl. 2), before cited, 
deserves repetition here : “ This Constitution, and the laws of the United 
States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, 
or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be 
the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every State shall be bound 
thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary 
notwithstanding.” 



CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS. 


295 


Government from interference with the rights of States, and 
restrains the States from interference with the affairs of the 
nation and the sacred rights of citizenship. In other words, 
as the constitution of a State is like a sun, about which, as 
planets, and in definite orbits, the three departments of State 
government revolve; so the Constitution of the United States 
is like the central Sun of the Universe itself, about which re¬ 
volve not only the three great planets of the Federal Govern¬ 
ment, but all the suns and lesser planets of the States as well. 

Without losing sight of these general considerations, let us 
examine, briefly, the position of Congress in relation to the 
other branches of the Federal Government and in relation to 
the States. 

The law-making power is, as we thoroughly understand, 
a transcendent power; and to Congress, in addition to this 
power, are committed functions of exceptional dignity and 
I consequence. 

In the first place, the Executive and Judicial divisions of 
the Government depended upon the law-makers for the means 
to do their work. The Constitution declared that there should 
be a President and a Supreme Court ; but it named no persons 
to occupy those offices. Accordingly, the Old Congress of 
the Confederation provided for the election of a President in 
obedience to the provision of the Constitution. Then the Old 
Congress went out of existence, and the First Congress under 
the Constitution convened. There was an empty chair for the 
President; there was an unoccupied bench for the Justices. 
That chair could not have been filled until Congress had counted 
the electoral votes; that bench could not have been touched by 
magisterial robes until Congress had passed the Judiciary Act 
and said of how many Justices the Supreme Court should con¬ 
sist, and until the President had nominated those Justices, and 
the Senate had duly confirmed the nominations. 


296 AMONG THE 'LA W-MAKERS. 

What next ? The President could have done nothing with¬ 
out assistants ; the Supreme Court could not have attended 
to all the litigation of the country coming within the jurisdic¬ 
tion of Federal power, nor could it have enforced its mandates 
without officers. What, then, did Congress do ? It created 
an Army and a Navy ; it established executive departments and 
furnished them with officers and employes, from a secretary to 
a janitor ; it created inferior courts, and supplied them with nec¬ 
essary assistants, from a marshal to a hangman. And it did 
something more : it said what these executive departments and 
courts and officers should do, what those officers and employes 
should be paid, and how the money to pay them should be 
raised. 

Those are some of the things which Congress actually did ; 
let us, in the language of the Supreme Court, “ suppose” what 
it might do. It might, by withholding adequate supplies and 
assistance, utterly cripple the two other departments; indeed, 
it might practically sweep them out of existence. It might 
abolish every executive department and every office connected 
with it—except the President. It might abolish every court 
and every office connected with it—except the Supreme Court. 
“Suppose” Congress were to do it. The Executive would 
still be “ co-ordinate ” and “ independent ” ; but it would con¬ 
sist of only one man—the President. The Judiciary would still 
be “ co-ordinate ” and “ independent; ” but it would consist of 
only nine men—the Supreme Court. And Congress might do 
more ; it might impeach and remove from office the President 
and the Justices of the Supreme Court. Where then would be 
the two “ co-ordinate ” and “independent” branches of the 
Government ? 

And so in its relation to the States. It cannot, to be sure, 
exceed the powers granted to it by the Constitution ; yet what 
is the exact extent of that power ? This question has been 


CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS. 


297 


asked from the very beginning of the Government ; at every 
session of Congress it is involved in measures offered for con¬ 
sideration ; at every term of the Supreme Court it is presented 
in one way or another ; it has not yet been fully answered. 
This may seem like a contradiction of what I have said in the 
first part of this chapter ; but it is a fact. # 

Certainly, Congress cannot exercise any of the powers re¬ 
served to the States or to the people. It clearly has no right 
to prohibit the sale of oleomargarine in the States ; that is a 
matter which belongs to the reserved power of the States. And 
yet it might effect the same end by different means—it might 
tax that commodity out of existence ! + 

Congress cannot, of course, directly impair the integrity of a 
State. It cannot deprive a State of its equal suffrage in the 
Senate, without the consent of the State ; it cannot divide a 
State into two, or merge two States into one, “ without the con¬ 
sent of the legislatures of the States concerned ; ” it cannot 
change the republican form of government of a State—on the 

* The case of M’Culloch v. the State of Marylandet al. , decided in 1819, 
and reported in 4 Wheaton, 416, involved the power of Congress to create 
the “ Bank of the United States,” and also involved the right of a State to 
impose a tax upon the operations of the bank. The Supreme Court sus¬ 
tained the power of Congress, and denied the right of the State as un¬ 
constitutional ; and said: “ This government is acknowledged by all to 
be one of enumerated powers. The principle, that it can exercise only the 
power granted to it, . . . is now universally admitted. But the question 

respecting the extent of the powers actually granted, is perpetually arising, 
and will probably continue to arise, as long as our system shall exist.” 

f An attempt to do this was made at the last session of Congress, but 
the proposed tax was materially reduced, by amending the measure, before 
the bill passed both Houses. Whether such a law as was at first proposed, 
manifestly intended to crush the product from the market of the country, 
would stand before judicial criticism, was strenuously questioned ; it was 
contended that the power to tax was given to Congress for the purposes of 
revenue—not for vengeance. 



298 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


contrary, the Constitution commands that “ the United States 
shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form 
of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, 
and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when 
the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.” 
Yet it might indirectly impair the power of a State : it might 
form, out of the public territory, any number of new States, and 
thus, by increasing the numbers of the Senate, of the House of 
Representatives, and of the Electoral College, seriously reduce 
the influence in national affairs of older States of the Union. If 
such a “ supposed ” measure were carried to extremes that 
power could be substantially destroyed. 

The provisions of the Constitution unquestionably vest in 
Congress the highest attributes of national sovereignty. It can 
create States ;* it can declare war and plunge a continent into 
misery ; it can coin money ; it can do more—it can borrow 
money. And under its so-called “ implied powers,” according 
to the Supreme Court, it can do even more than that—by virtue 
of its sovereign authority, it can, out of mere waste and worth¬ 
less paper, actually make money.t 

The Constitution, after enumerating certain powers, provides 
that Congress shall have power “ to make all laws which shall 

* It has exercised this power repeatedly ; it exercised it during my term, 
by the creation of the State of Colorado, admitted into the Union on the 
1st day of August, 1876. 

f The decisions of the Supreme Court upon this question were rendered 
in what are known as the Legal Tender Cases. The first decision, rendered 
a few years after the close of the War, was adverse to the alleged power of 
Congress; but so many millions of dollars were at stake, that a rehearing 
of the question was had, and, by the help of an act of Congress increasing 
the membership of the Supreme Court and of the newly appointed Justices, 
a reversal of the adverse decision was secured. Another “legal tender” 
decision, also favorable to the power of Congress, was rendered a few 
years ago. 



CONSTITUTIONAL LI MIT A TIONS. 


299 


be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the fore¬ 
going powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution 
in the Government of the United States, or in any department 
or office thereof.” A statement of what it is possible for Con¬ 
gress to do, under this broad provision and under the doctrine 
of “ implied powers,” involves a careful reading of the Consti¬ 
tution, in the light of congressional history and judicial deci¬ 
sions. 

For one great fact must not be overlooked. The Federal Ju¬ 
diciary is the sole judge of the Federal Constitution.* Suppose, 
then, Congress should pass some measure of grave consequence 
to private interests (as a measure taxing to death the oleomar¬ 
garine industry), and that the interests affected should appeal to 
the courts to declare the measure unconstitutional. Suppose, 
further, that the law-makers should fear that the Supreme Court, 
if an opportunity should be presented, would hold the measure 
to be void, would it not be within the power of Congress, when 
enacting the other measure, to cut off the jurisdiction of the 
Supreme Court so that no case involving the question should 
reach that tribunal ? And might it not also intimidate the in¬ 
ferior tribunals—the district and circuit courts—by a threat to 
legislate them out of existence should they decide against the 
measure ? 

Assume another case—one to which a State should be a 
party, and which, therefore, under the terms of the Constitution, 
would have to be brought before the Supreme Court. Suppose 
Congress should pass a measure far-reaching in its purpose and 
fraught with peril to a State. The State would appeal to the 
Federal Supreme Court to declare the measure unconstitutional. 

* This is under Art. III., Sec. II, which says : “ The judicial power shall 
extend to all cases in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the 
laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under their authority ; ” etc. 


300 


AMONG THE LAW MAKERS. 


Congress could not cut off the jurisdiction of the Supreme 
Court, because the original and exclusive jurisdiction of that 
court in such a matter was conferred by the Constitution. But 
would it not be within the power of the law-makers to intimidate 
the Supreme Court by a threat to increase the membership—a 
threat which, if carried into execution, might enable Congress 
to secure a reversal of an unfavorable decision ? # 

Of course, there is no danger that Congress will ever go to 
the extremes supposed. It has frequently reduced Federal ex¬ 
penses and abolished Federal offices. It is constantly “ worry¬ 
ing the wits ” of the executive, and impeding administrative 
duties, by its investigating committees and “requests for infor¬ 
mation.” It has occasionally allowed the fiscal year to roll by 
without making necessary appropriations for the public service, 
and temporary inconvenience has resulted. It did, at one time, 
demolish, at one fell stroke, all the circuit courts, because offi¬ 
cered by judges not of its way of thinking. It did, at another 
time, secure a favorable decision from the Supreme Court by an 
act increasing the membership of the court, and by “unoffi¬ 
cially ” suggesting to the President the sort of men he should 
nominate to fill the vacant seats upon that Bench. Its proceed¬ 
ings over the recent oleomargarine bill, and its past record on 
matters connected with the formation of new States, show what 
it is capable of doing in other directions. 

But it would be a hazardous thing for the law-makers to ex¬ 
periment with their power. It was not discretionary with Con¬ 
gress to equip the other departments of Government ; it was its 
duty to do it—its discretion lay in the manner in which they 

* Students acquainted with the English Constitution understand how, by 
a similar threat (to increase the membership of the House of Lords by the 
creation of new peers), the House of Commons occasionally intimidates 
the House of Lords into submission to its measures ; and they also under* 
stand how that threat has been actually executed. 



CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS. 


301 


should be equipped. It is not within the discretion or pleasure 
of Congress to refuse to make proper provision for the other 
departments of Government—its discretion relates to the deter¬ 
mination of the manner in which that provision shall be made. 
Neither is it within its discretion to despoil the power of a 
State, or to do other wanton acts subversive of our institutions 
and our liberties. There is such a thing as neglect of duty ; 
there is also such a thing as abuse of power ; and there is such 
a thing as downright usurpation. And such things public 
opinion will not tolerate. 

All these “ suppositions ” are presented as suggestions—a 
few of many that might be advanced—to set you thinking about 
matters upon which our statesmen and jurists have had in the 
past to act, and with which in the future you may be called 
upon to deal. An able writer, who has made a careful study 
of the history and methods of Congress, asserts : * “ The bal¬ 
ances of the Constitution are for the most part only ideal. For 
all practical purposes the National Government is supreme over 
the State governments, and Congress predominant over its so- 
called co-ordinate branches. Whereas Congress at first over¬ 
shadowed neither President nor Federal Judiciary, it now on 
occasion rules both with easy mastery and with a high hand.” 

Whether any of this power of Congress has been acquired 
by gradual encroachment, or whether it is in accord with the 
spirit of the Constitution ; whether the authority of Congress 
should be further increased, or whether its powers should be 
curtailed by constitutional amendment, are serious questions to 
all Americans alive to the interests of the Republic. It is no 
cjoubt true that the framers of the Constitution intended that 
instrument to receive a “ reasonable interpretation,” and there¬ 
fore did not express, specifically, powers which naturally would 


Congressional Government, by Woodrow Wilson. 


302 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


be implied as incident to those which are enumerated. It is 
none the less a fact that we have in some things departed from 
the intentions of our forefathers—departures not recorded in 
written additions to the Constitution, but silently effected 
through “political methods” and “judicial constructions.”* 
The Electoral College of to-day is by no means what it was de¬ 
signed to be ; if you wish to find the secret influence which has 
wrought the change, you must seek it elsewhere than in the 
Twelfth Amendment. 

And so with other features of our Government. The inquisi¬ 
tive citizen who wishes to understand the nature of that Govern¬ 
ment will do well to read the Constitution and its Amendments 
—and then turn his attention to Congress. 

“ As the House of Commons is the central object of exami¬ 
nation in every study of the English Constitution, so should 

* In the case of Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (i Wheaton, 304), decided in 
1816, Justice Story, delivering the opinion of the Supreme Court, said : 
“ The Constitution, unavoidably, deals in general language. It did not 
suit the purpose of the people, in framing this great charter of our liberties, 
to provide for minute specifications of its powers, or to declare the means 
by which those powers should be carried into execution. It was foreseen 
that this would be a perilous and difficult, if not an impracticable, task. 
The instrument was not intended merely to provide for the exigencies of a 
few years, but was to endure through a long lapse of ages, the events of 
which were locked up in the inscrutable purposes of Providence. It could 
not be foreseen what new changes and modifications of power might be in¬ 
dispensable to effectuate the general objects of the charter; and restric¬ 
tions and specifications, which at the present might seem salutary, might, 
in the end, prove the overthrow of the system itself. Hence its powers are 
expressed in general terms, leaving to the legislature, from time to time, to 
adopt its own means to effectuate legitimate objects, and to mould and 
model the exercise of its powers, as its own wisdom and the public inter¬ 
ests should require.” These views were reiterated by Chief Justice Mar¬ 
shall, in the great case of M' Culloch v. The State of Maryland, et al. j and 
the Legal Tender Decisions sustain this position. 


CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITATIONS. 3°3 

Congress be in every study of our own. Anyone who is un¬ 
familiar with what Congress actually does and how it does it, 
with all its duties and all its occupations, with all its devices of 
management and resources of power, is very far from a knowl¬ 
edge of the constitutional system under which we live ; and 
to everyone who knows these things that knowledge is very 
near.” 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 


REFLECTIONS. 

There are countless things in regard to our Government that 
I must leave untouched. I have told you of the great princi¬ 
ples underlying the system, but into all the intricate details I 
cannot go. Within the necessary limits of this volume I have 
not been able to do full justice to the law-makers ; much less 
have I been able to treat of all the departments of Government, 
the various lights and shades of national affairs, the myriad 
ramifications of the Law throughout the mighty structure oi 
Society. Such an undertaking would have been indeed stupen¬ 
dous. 

During my four years of service in the Senate I witnessed 
the two Houses of Congress in the exercise of the various 
powers conferred upon them by the Constitution ; and I started 
out upon my narrative with a vague intention to conduct you 
carefully over the ground I traversed as a page. But, naturally 
enough, having once begun, I have asked you to stroll about 
with me in all directions. Thus I have wandered idly along, 
with much of the ground still unexplored ; and yet, in my zig¬ 
zag ramblings, I have called your attention to a variety of in¬ 
cidents and objects that came within our range of observation. 

I have taken you upon the dome of the Capitol, exhibited 
to you its mazy rooms and corridors, and led you down into 
the very caverns of the earth. You have heard, in imagina¬ 
tion, the Halls of Congress echoing with the sounds of mirth, 


REFLECTIONS . 


305 


and you have seen them draped in black and hushed in the still¬ 
ness of death. You have beheld laws made, a President inaugu¬ 
rated, statesmen and pages at their work and play. If, in my 
description of congressional scenes, I have in any place spoken 
in too light a vein, ascribe it to the fact that fo*r the moment I 
regained the audacity of my youth ; if I have anywhere been 
dry and uninteresting, charge it to the seriousness of maturer 
years. 

If you should be in Washington at any time during the ses¬ 
sions of Congress, do not neglect to visit the Capitol. Listen 
to the deliberations of the Federal law-makers. You may hear 
debates, you may witness scenes, some grave and some amus¬ 
ing—but do not form the erroneous impression that the moving 
panorama before your eyes is the acting either of a tragedy or 
of a farce. Remember, always, that the exercise of power is 
one thing—that the power itself is something else. Although 
occasionally enlivened by incidents of humor and hilarity, the 
proceedings of Congress, as a whole, are serious, involving mat¬ 
ters of the greatest moment to us all. It may be that there are 
those among its members who are unfit to discharge the duties 
of their station, and that the country would be better off with¬ 
out them ; yet let us trust that nearly all recognize their respon¬ 
sibilities, and seek to protect and promote our national interests 
and welfare. As one of the three departments of the Govern¬ 
ment, the Congress of the United States is entitled to profound 
regard ; as an institution representing the majesty and guarding 
the liberties of the American people, it should be revered. 

During the past summer I visited Washington and took a 
glimpse about me. How great had been the changes of ten 
swift years ! The city itself, as if by magic, had been trans¬ 
formed into the fairest of the land. Rubbishy buildings had 
disappeared, and on their sites had risen palaces and dwellings 


20 




30 6 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


worthy to be the abodes of princes and of kings. The muddy 
thoroughfares were no more ; in their stead were miles of glis- 



The Capitol, from Pennsylvania Avenue. (West Front.) 

tening concrete, over which the carriages rolled without a jostle 
and young folks glided joyously upon their bicycles and skates. 






















REFLECTIONS. 


30 7 


Even the grand and venerable trees that had surrounded the 
Capitol, and in the shade of whose branches I had so often 
roamed, had fallen beneath the axe of the landscape artist. But 
here was a change that, in my opinion, was not an improve¬ 
ment. 

I entered the Capitol, and noted everywhere the ruthless 
hand of Time. I went to the Upper House and looked in. 
All the officers were strange. No ! Two forms I recognized. 
There they sat, on either side of the presiding officer, in the 
very same chairs, I suppose, about which I had so often frol¬ 
icked. May they both live many years to grace that Chamber 
with their presence ! 

Then I scanned the Senate for the old law-makers. But 
how few were there ! Of the many Senators whom I had met 
during portions of three Congresses, but fourteen could be 
found ; of the seventy-four members belonging to that body 
when I first entered it as a page, only six remained to answer 
to the roll. 

But there was another blow reserved for my feelings. The 
pages seemed a different order of beings. I met one of them 
and spoke to him with the air of a father. Had any visitor 
spoken to me in such parental fashion when a page, I would 
have withered him by a look. Yet this small fellow stood it, 
and in a mild and gentlemanly manner gave me all the informa¬ 
tion I requested. His statement was a revelation. Times had 
indeed changed. 

Sadly I walked to the House of Representatives. I entered 
the gallery and gazed about me. I was among strangers. I 
knew that several of the old Representatives were still mem¬ 
bers, but it was difficult to discern their faces in the turbulent 
crowd that thronged the floor. “ Where,” I mused, “are the 
legislators of the Forty-second, the Forty-third, the Forty-fourth 
Congresses ? ” I answered my own query. Some of them had 




3°8 


AMONG THE LAW-MAKERS. 


been transferred to other spheres of public usefulness ; others 
had withdrawn from the turmoil of business and retired to pri¬ 
vate life ; maia^Ka gone to their eternal rest. 

I remafifl^in the Capitol for a short time to watch the pro¬ 
ceedings of each nouse. The great work, of legislation was go¬ 
ing merrily along. The House was just as/honchalant and noisy ; 
the Senate as industrious and efficient as in my time. My mind 
went back to that Monday in December, 1872, when I made my 
first appearance in legislative halls. I fancied that I heard a 
voice exclaim, “ The Senate will come to order ! ” and that I 
was again a careless, happy boy. But it was only fancy. My 
reverie was broken by a touch. The visions of the past faded 
from my sight, and the stern reality of the present rose up before 
me. And yet, as I came away from the noble edifice and the 
scenes of my early joys and trials, the same mysterious voice 
was ringing in my ears : 

* 9 * j 

“Administrations terminate and Congresses expire as thfe 
years pass by, but the Nation lives and grows and prospers, to 
be served in the future by those equally faithful its interests 
and equally proud of its growing influence among the nations of 
- the earth ! 


THE END. 














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